Sabbath Devotional :: A Christmas Parable

Shortly after we moved to Boston, I learned the story behind the Christmas tree on the city’s Common. Every year it is given by the people of Nova Scotia as an expression of gratitude for Massachusetts’ response to a devastating disaster. A few weeks before Christmas in 1917, a munitions ship exploded in the Halifax harbor, setting the city ablaze. Thousands were killed and thousands more were wounded. Almost immediately the Governor of Massachusetts reached out with a telegram offering assistance:

“Massachusetts stands ready to go to the limit in rendering every assistance you may be in need of.”

That telegram went unanswered — the telegraph system had been destroyed. The governor then tried to reach Halifax using US Government wireless systems:

“Since sending my telegram this morning offering unlimited assistance, an important meeting of citizens has been held and Massachusetts stands ready to offer aid in any way you can avail yourself of it. We are prepared to send forward immediately a special train with surgeons, nurses and other medical assistance, but wait advice from you.”

Still no response. A letter was drafted for hand delivery and then a postscript was added:

“Realizing that time is of the utmost importance, we have not waited for your response but have dispatched the train.”

Usually I hear the story of the Common Christmas tree told as an example of gratitude and friendship. But to me it is a parable of individual and communal discipleship, telling us how to give and how to receive.

The first order of discipleship is to be responsive to real needs. And, as unfashionable as it might be to say so, I think it really does require us to “be ready to go to the limit.” This self-sacrificing love is what the Savior gives to us. It is what he modeled when choosing to live a simple and uncomfortable life, and it is what he offered by willingly experiencing a violent death; knowing that these choices would seal his atonement and provide for our redemption.

Next discipleship requires us to come together. The Governor’s first impulse was shared and amplified by citizens who were unified in purpose, eager to help, and inspired to offer their gifts. I believe that if we want to be like Christ we must humbly accept the necessity of doing his work alongside others. Our covenant relationships ask us to both tolerate imperfection in others and to face our own.

Finally, my favorite part of this story, the one that really sings to my soul, is the postscript: There have been times when I have been shell-shocked by an explosion or consumed by the fires of despair; when I have been suffering, but with my regular means of communication cut off. Blessed people – saints bound by covenant – “realizing that time was of utmost importance,” did not wait, but dispatched the train. They witnessed to me the reality of Christ and the healing and peace he offers. They kept me connected to them and ultimately to Him.

Having been saved and healed, our final obligation to the Lord is, like the people of Halifax, to remember and witness. So today as we approach the final week of Christmas, I just want to share with you all my gratitude for the tangible ways that Christ offers us his healing power. I have learned from personal experience that it is both real and divine. In this season of his birth, I hope that we can all hold in our memory the times when his disciples have come to our aid, and also acknowledge freely that it was in his name and because of his teachings that they did so.

How grateful I am that he was born.