At Special Gathering, which is a ministry within the mentally challenged community, we have several activities to celebrate the birth of the Savior.  My favorite is our Happy Birthday, Jesus Party.  Our members bring food.  There is a birthday cake.  We feast, sing “Happy Birthday” and retell the story of the birth of God’s son.

It is the timeless recounting of God’s great love for mankind which captures my heart each year.  A young virgin girl visited by an angel.  A distressed and heart-broken young lover hears his fiancee’s obviously attempt to cover her unfaithfulness with a bazaar and fabricated lie.  Another visitation from an angel to Joseph and an improbable marriage.

The ruling emperor who demands that the young couple travel to Bethlehem to pay their taxes as the due date for the Son of God approaches.  An inn overflowing with travelers and the holy child born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a cattle feeding trough.

Shepherds and an angelic chorus who heralds the birth of the Christ child.

Thomas Paine, one of the founding fathers of our country, speaks of these amazing events as myths that cannot be taken seriously.  Others scoff while men and angels still praise the wisdom of our God who sent the Eternal King to earth in the form of a baby, born in a lowly estate.