Whether or not you're a practicing Christian, you've most likely encountered some beautiful images of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus -- born in a manger. Maybe you attended a Christmas concert with beautiful music or watched a beautiful Christmas movie. Most likely, amidst the busyness and bustling of the holiday season, you've found at least a bit of the beauty of Christmas.
But the beauty of the Incarnation -- when the Word of God became flesh-extends beyond beautiful images, music, and films. The act of God the Father sending His only begotten Son (John 3:16) to the world, as a poor baby with nowhere to lay his head, might be perceived as beautiful by many.
But why? What's beautiful about hay, cows, lowly shepherds, and a donkey?
Well, not only is creation beautiful and thus, we might find the nativity scene pleasing, but acts of virtue are also perceived as beautiful (Pohling & Diessner, 2016).
In fact, acts of virtue are referred to as moral beauty in the field of psychology because they are consistently perceived as beautiful.
Now consider a time when you were suffering. What types of actions and words from others felt good, pleasing, and beautiful to you? Does it feel good and pleasing when someone has compassion towards you in your suffering? Does it feel good and pleasing when someone accepts your suffering? And, have you ever noticed that when someone else has gone through what you're going through -- has suffered a similar suffering to yours, that you find a new strength?
Well, research shows that shared suffering may foster self-transcendence (Lomas, 2015) and that such shared suffering is related to empathy and motivation to help (Batson, 2009). Moreover, feeling understood by another is strongly linked to satisfying relationships and well-being (Reis et al., 2017). And in contrast, social isolation is detrimental to physical and mental health.
Now let's examine what God does on Christmas Day. His only Son is born on earth, in an animal manger, with nowhere to lay his head. Jesus comes to us, suffers with us, that we may have life (Luke 9:58). With this act of love, he understands us, has compassion and mercy upon us, and pours out His love and His life for us.
Such an act is truly beautiful -- for the Creator of the Universe to choose to become human like us.
As you go about this Christmas season, you may find that acts of moral virtue -- self-gift for the sake of the other -- are striking you as beautiful. If so, you're not alone. Morality is beautiful, and we celebrate the ultimate act of morality -- of love -- this Christmas season.