“On the Sixth day of Christmas, my true love sent to me, Six geese a-laying” by Brendan Rossell Smith
In this time of Advent, Christmas, and the beginning of the New Year, I have been thinking a lot about creation and what that means for us. There is some possible symbolism to each day of the 12 days of Christmas, whether it was the intention of the composer of the carol or not, that all point to the birth, life, mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We celebrate the great Epiphany at the end of the 12 days; Christians are reminded of Jesus’ birth, baptism, and first miracle. It inspires great hope and brings peace to many who have struggled, suffered, and pondered the question, “What is my faith even worth?” It is a reminder that when God spent those six days creating everything and rested on the seventh day, God stated it was good. “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31, NIV). God, the omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient being that God is, looked at all of God’s creation and said it was very good; we are very good. God knows everything and is present everywhere; it makes you think that God must have known how much we would sin and suffer and how we would constantly reject Him.
Nevertheless, God still created us, not because God needed us, but because since the beginning, God loved us. God continually shows how much God loves us. In this time leading to the feast of the Epiphany, we are reminded of the great, unconditional, and insatiable love God has for us. God loved us and saw the good in us, and because of that God sent His only son to die for our sins. I am reminded of Francis of Assisi’s words: “Every day He humbles Himself just as He did when from from His heavenly throne into the Virgin’s womb; every day He comes to us and lets us see Him in lowliness, when He descends from the bosom of the Father into the hands of the priest at the altar.” What great joy, peace, and hope that brings!