DECEMBER • 2012
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Grandparents Day!
C VC ADMINISTRATIVE PERSPEC TIVE
– by Larry Baker, CVC High School Principal
He Made Himself Nothing
T
Fall Drive The 2012 Fall Drive concludes on December 21. Our goal is to raise $400,000 to help provide extra funds for various needs throughout our school. If you have not been personally contacted, please call our financial office at 734-9481. Thank you!
In This Issue Art on Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alumni News . . . . . . . . . . . Fall Sports Shorts . . . . . . . Glimpsing the Divine . . . . School Board . . . . . . . . . . . Looking Ahead . . . . . . . . . Of Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christmas Concerts . . . . . .
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he CVC Mission Statement includes the phrase Shaping Christ-like Character. As a high school we have been discussing ways to exhibit character that is like Christ. For the last few months our focus has been, in particular, on the character trait of humility. As a school, in our morning devotions, we’ve explored Paul’s words to the Philippians when he instructs them to have the mind of Christ who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. We often try to sanitize the Christmas story with warm scenes of the Child lying in a straw-filled manger, but even at his birth Christ demonstrated a willingness to make himself nothing. I once stood on a hillside in Israel. I walked the path that Mary and Joseph likely walked on their way to Bethlehem. Our group also stopped and rested at a place where, over the years, sheep and other animals had congregated, rested, ate, drank, and did all the things that sheep and animals need to do after they eat and drink. The place where we stopped was probably not the exact location where Jesus was born, but with Bethlehem in view, we had to be pretty close. It was not hard for me to picture a young couple, animals, and a trough from which the sheep could eat or drink. In my mind, I could see the baby being placed in that trough. It was easy to imagine the shepherds coming up the hill to see the strange sight, a baby in this place normally reserved for animals. My picture of that scene is now a little different than it used to be. It’s uglier. There is absolutely nothing cozy or pretty about Jesus lying in a manger. My picture is unsanitary, it’s downright filthy, and it stinks. Have you ever allowed yourself to imagine how God would have pulled that event off 2000 years later? Suppose Jesus was born in Visalia this winter. Mary would still need to be a virgin. Joseph would faithfully be by her side as they looked for a place to bear her child. God would have made sure the hospitals were full. No homes would have room for them. Homes are too warm and comfortable. Mary and Joseph would have been led to a dumpster, maybe the one behind school. The dumpster would be mostly empty, but still very smelly and dirty. A cardboard box would be available in which to lay the child. A night crew of custodians would replace the shepherds as the ones sent by angels to find the child. They would find him wrapped in rags and lying in a dumpster, because there was no room in the hospitals. The three of (“He Made Himself Nothing” continues on page 2)