Probable or Improbable?

“Now, if one asks whether that central grand miracle in Christianity is itself probable or improbable, of course, quite clearly you cannot be applying Hume's kind of probability. You cannot mean a probability based on statistics according to which the more often a thing has happened, the more likely it is to happen again (the more often you get indiges­tion from eating a certain food, the more probable it is, if you eat it again, that you will again have indigestion). Cer­tainly the Incarnation cannot be probable in that sense. It is of its very nature to have happened only once. But then it is of the very nature of the history of this world to have hap­pened only once; and if the Incarnation happened at all, it is the central chapter of that history. It is improbable in the same way in which the whole of nature is improbable, because it is only there once, and will happen only once. So one must apply to it a quite different kind of standard.”  ―C.S. Lewis, “The Grand Miracle”

The Word Became Flesh

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ” ¹⁶ And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” ―John 1:14-18

Prayer

O Lord of creation, we praise You for the miracle of the Incarnation; that the Lord of glory became flesh and dwelt among us―God and man in one person―the only Mediator between us and You. As we remember His coming help us to focus our hearts on Him and to show others His light. Amen.

Advent Action

Give an anonymous gift to someone; and stranger or an acquaintance or a friend in need. Don’t let them know that you were the one giving it. Let it be a sort of “minor miracle” and blessing for them.