Introduction: Reframing the Incarnation
This summary explores the profound message of the Incarnation as presented in the source text. It reframes this pivotal event not primarily as a grand, observable miracle, but as a quiet, profound “decision of love” that originated in the heart of God long before it was made manifest in the world. The true beginning was not an action seen by humanity, but a choice made in love for humanity.
The Origin: An Intention Before an Action
The text clarifies that the starting point of the Incarnation was not a dramatic cosmic event, but a silent, deliberate intention. It contrasts the common perception of a sudden divine arrival with a more intimate and hidden beginning.
• Common View: The Incarnation is often pictured as a sudden, explosive event—a powerful “light descending from heaven” or a brilliant “sun bursting forth” into the darkness of the world.
• The Text’s View: It is described instead as a quiet, deliberate “intention moving within God’s heart.” Long before the physical birth, this divine choice was already at work, breathing a “new breath of creation” toward humanity that no one on Earth could yet feel.
This quiet and unseen beginning set the stage for a humble, rather than spectacular, arrival.
The Method: A Humble Beginning, Not a Grand Entrance
In line with its origin as a quiet intention, the divine arrival is portrayed not with power and majesty, but with gentleness and warmth. The text emphasizes that the coming of God into the world began in the most intimate and vulnerable way imaginable, captured in the simple yet profound description:
…it began… very small, very warmly inside a mother’s womb.
This humble method—a small, warm life instead of a cosmic explosion—points directly to the underlying motivation for the Incarnation.
The Core Message: The Choice That Preceded the Miracle
The most crucial aspect of the Incarnation, according to the text, is that it was first and foremost a decision of love before it was a great miracle. The miracle was the result of the decision, but the decision itself is the true heart of the matter. This distinction shifts the focus from the external event to the internal divine motive.
| Perspective: “The Great Miracle” | Perspective: “The Decision of Love” |
| Focuses on the event of God becoming human. | Focuses on the divine choice that prompted the event. |
| Emphasizes the power and spectacle. | Emphasizes the intimacy and intention. |
| Highlights what happened on Earth. | Highlights what first happened in God’s heart. |
| Views it as an act of cosmic power. | Views it as an act of willing relationship. |
This loving and willing decision is presented as the ultimate source from which all subsequent grace flows.
Conclusion: The Decision as the Source of All Grace
In summary, the text presents a contemplative view of the Incarnation. It argues that the true starting point of grace was not the physical birth in Bethlehem, but the unseen, unannounced moment that God “willingly chose” to come to humanity in a familiar, vulnerable form. This quiet, loving choice, made within the heart of God, is identified as nothing less than “the beginning of all grace.”
English