Mary must have been so overwhelmed as that first Christmas day approached. Met by an angel and “favored of God.” Witnessing an aged Elizabeth give birth and a mute Zacharias sing a song of praise. Traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem while 8-9 months pregnant because the occupying government demanded a census. While in the overcrowded city of Bethlehem giving birth and lay her baby in a manger because there were no rooms available in any homes. Shepherds crashing their “manger scene” talking about angels, heavenly anthems, and proclamations of “good news.” But, when Mary looked at her Baby, she “treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.” I imagine her gazing into her Baby’s eyes and knowing love and experiencing the rise of hope.

Every child brings hope, perhaps not the same hope the Baby Jesus brought, but hope, nonetheless. Yet, I have heard many young people say they don’t think they want to have a child. Who would want to bring a child into this world? It’s so full of hatred stemming from arrogance, pride, and ignorance as well as division & oppression growing from unrestrained greed. “Why would I bring a child into this mess? Instead of having a child, I’m going to work to change the world.”

That’s just the point though, isn’t it? Having a child is an act of resistance against the division, hate, and oppression of this world. Raising a kind and healthy child actively rebels against the principles that flow from arrogance and greed. It’s the stuff of revolution against the tyranny of despair. Let me explain.

Ideally, a child is born as a result of love. The love two people share grows so deep and so pervasive that it gives birth to new life. That love grows even deeper with the gift of new life. In fact, love deepens to the point of sacrificially giving of the self for the betterment of the other (every loving parent has felt this love for their child); and as a result, shapes a loving person who knows the security of a loving home. This new life, this person born of love, eventually matures into a young adult who goes into the world to love others as he or she has been loved, with a sacrificial giving of themselves to others, a sacrificial giving that replaces arrogance and greed. Love gives birth to and raises hope that replaces fear. Hope matures, replacing division and oppression…and creating change.

Yes, loving another so deeply that your love creates new life can change the world. But it begins with an intimate sharing of life with the one you commit to in love. Then loving them so deeply–with the sacrificial giving of yourself to them–that your love bursts forth in new life. “Treasure these things, pondering them in your heart.”