In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. ~ St. John 1:1 (KJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash
I love to hear my co-workers at the Tribal school conversing in the Choctaw language as they walk down the hall. It has a melodious sound to it, and they sound so happy. There’s just one problem, though. I can’t understand a single word.
A couple of weeks ago, I was given a poster about coronavirus to hang in my classroom. It had a picture of an animal on it, and bore the following maxim:
“Ki Mihchih. Abikachi, Coronavirus ma, ittapilachit okla kil atapachi!”
After I proudly taped it to the wall, my students began asking me to read and interpret it for them. I rendered the inscription to be “Mr. Moose says, ‘Don’t poop in the woods, or you might catch COVID!” (When you don’t know the answer, it always pays to point at the picture and make stuff up.)
During my planning period, I went to the front office to talk to my friend Ann, asking her to help me read my poster. She laughed and laughed. She said it’s not every day that the English teacher (who is called “doctor”) comes to her to because he can’t read something.
Then she told me what the poster actually says. It has something to do with working together to get rid of the coronavirus. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly what it says because I didn’t write down what she told me. And… I still can’t read it.
That’s why the way St. John tells the Christmas story makes me feel so hopeful. His retelling is different. He doesn’t tell us the part about mangers, and shepherds, and wise men, and a star. The only thing he talks about is The Word.
In our hearts, we often wonder what God is all about. Sometimes we might wonder if He truly loves us. But in sending His Son, the Father makes everything clear. Jesus Christ is the Word that we can all understand.
From our house, to yours—have a wonderful Christmas. Rejoice, give thanks, and be glad!
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and spent almost 35 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. He’s currently on a sabbatical from the preaching ministry, and is an English teacher at the Choctaw Tribal School. He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in a brick house in town (where the Preacher and his wife are enjoying some time off from school.) You can send him a note at countrypreacherdad@gmail.com.
