A Farmer's Christmas Lesson from the Geese

There was once a man who didn’t believe in the incarnation or the spiritual meaning of Christmas, and was skeptical about God. He and his family lived in a farm community. His wife was a devout believer.

One snowy Christmas eve she was taking the kids to the Christmas Eve service at church. She pleaded with him to come, but he firmly refused. He ridiculed the idea of the incarnation of Christ. After they left, the winds grew stronger and the snow turned into a blizzard. As he looked out the window, all he saw was a blinding snowstorm.

The man heard a great noise coming from his porch. Upon opening the door he saw that a flock of geese had landed there in order to get out of the storm. He had compassion for them and wanted to help them. He thought, “The barn would be a great place for them to stay! It’s warm and safe; surely they could spend the night and wait out the storm.” However, when he tried to lead them they kept returning to the porch. Starting to get frustrated, he went over and tried to shoo them, run after them, and chase them toward the barn. They only got scared and scattered into every direction.

Feeling totally frustrated, he exclaimed, “Why don’t they follow me?! Can’t they see this is the only place where they can survive the storm! How can I possibly get them into the one place that will save them?

He stood silently for a moment as the words that he just said reverberated back to him. He thought: “If only I could become like one of them—then I could save them.” As the winds and blinding snow abated, his heart became quiet and he pondered his thoughts. He now understood what Christmas was all about. He knew why Christ had come.