Grace Notes: Christmas and the Giant Within

Grace Notes column by Sister Anne Marie Walsh, SOLT

Jesus has laid down several conditions for entering the kingdom of God. These are well known and, of course, revolve around eliminating sin in our lives and becoming holy, becoming like Jesus. But he also said we have to become like little children. The problem is that many of us wouldn’t fit through the heavenly gates the way we are now. Our giant ego, our giant pride, our giant sensitivity, our giant selfishness, our giant need to be in control, keep us spiritually “obese.”

We have to “lose” this excess “weight.”  The most efficacious and immediate way this happens is through an actual encounter with Christ. Christmas, in particular, sets the stage in such a way that every year, we are given the opportunity and special grace to walk right into the mystery of God’s love for us. We are invited to actively engage with God by receiving Him as a newborn Child. Who is not disarmed by the presence of a tiny babe, utterly at the mercy of those around him and dependent on even the most basic help?

It can be wise to really identify the giant within because this is what needs the core conversion in us. Giants are typically depicted as unpleasant fellows. They tower menacingly over ordinary people, and their size alone is considered intimidating. They are present in many fairytales and myths cross-culturally, and they often depict a kind of aberration of the human person, whose worst qualities have gained the upper hand.

As such, giants come across as negative characters, monsters even, at deep odds with ordinary human beings. They tend to illustrate the degradation ordinary vices can lead us into if we do nothing about them.

The extraordinary grace of Christmas is that everyone is invited into the inner world of the God-man, Emmanuel, God with us! Who also seeks to enter our inner world and to share life with us. However, only the humble of heart can enter the Christmas cave that holds the Christ Child. Giants do not fit. Or rather, their self-inflated importance cannot stand in the face of the humblest, most loving, most kind, most beautiful friend we will ever have.

 Oscar Wilde, who lived life according to his name, is said to have undergone a conversion towards the end of his life. He wrote a fairy tale, which he claimed was somewhat autobiographical, called The Selfish Giant. It is a very moving story about a giant with a beautiful garden who is so selfish that he will not let the local children play in it. But then he notices that winter comes and never leaves. The giant wonders why the beautiful weather is so late in coming.

One morning, he hears the birds singing outside and excitedly gets up to see that the children have snuck into the garden and are playing in the trees, which are now in full bloom and happily receiving the children into their branches. But in one corner of the garden, the giant notices it is still winter. A little boy is crying by a tree that is too tall for him to climb onto. The giant walks up behind the boy and gently places him on the branches. The little boy is so happy he throws his arms around the giant and kisses him. At this moment, the giant’s heart melts, and he realizes his selfishness and vows from then on to give the garden over to the children. 

He never sees his little friend again, and the children do not know who he is. The giant watches and enjoys the children every day but misses his friend, whom he loves the most because he kissed him. When the giant is very old, the little boy shows up one morning, and the giant joyously runs out to meet him. As he approaches, he becomes angry because he sees wounds in the hands and feet of the little boy. The giant wants to take his sword and kill whoever did this. But the little boy tells him they are the wounds of love, and because the giant let him play in his garden once, he has now come to take him to his garden, Paradise. 

There is some giant thing in all of us that needs to be tamed, to be made subject to God’s love and not our own ego. One gaze of love, one embrace, one smile from the Christ Child is all it takes. That is the real Christmas gift God offers us. May you find it this Christmas in the garden of your own heart.