One Solitary Life

A few years ago, I attended the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show was fun to watch. How those women are able to kick so high is beyond me! At the end of the show, they had a manger scene, and then a voice read a poem. A person sitting near me incredulously stated "What does Jesus have to do with Christmas?" I was shocked. I wish I knew who said it and I wish that I would have had the courage to tell her what Jesus had to do with Christmas. What does Jesus have to do with Christmas? Ummm...how about everything? Without the birth of Jesus Christ, there would have been no death of Jesus Christ. Without His death, there would be no way for us to be forgiven for our sins. If we can't be forgiven for our sins, we cannot return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Jesus is the Christ, the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind. It is through His sacrifice that we are made clean so that we can stand spotless before God and enter into his presence. Not only does Jesus have everything to do with Christmas, He has everything to do with our daily life. Instead of just keeping Christ in Christmas, let's keep Christ in life.

Here is the poem that was read that day:

One Solitary Life
(by Dr. Jame Allan Francis, the date on the poem says 1926)

He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty

He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth

When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind's progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life