I’m looking at the headlines from tomorrow’s papers – they are the same as any other day… a combination of politics and international affairs and economics. CNN and Fox and MSNBC are running similar stories – the Iowa countdown is on, the candidates were campaigning throughout the day. All this to say that our world is a whole lot like it was 2000 years ago when, in the midst of busyness, there was a baby born who would change the world.
No, this probably isn’t the actual day Jesus was born. It seems that most likely occurred in the fall. Yes, Christmas is an adaptation of previous pagan festival. Yes, the whole nostalgia we feel about this holiday was created in no small part by American retailers in the 20th Century. But the day is supposed to be about remembering that most miraculous of days.

That Jesus rose from the dead is the most important fact of Christian belief. Without that belief Christianity never would have spread. But without a baby named Jesus there would have been nothing at all.
We have grown so accustomed to the story and have had so many people offer opinions on what it may mean and what it might represent and what it could actually symbolize that it is hard to grasp how insane an story it really is.
A birth.
Rolls of fat. Vocal cords. Beyond helpless.
A mother and earthly father invariably mystified by what has come to pass.
An infinite God in swaddling cloths.
The greatest miracle.
And I believe it all.
Merry Christmas.
…and many thanks for the many gifts you all have given me this year.
David