A Blessed Mess
What do you think—as you heard the Christmas story read just now, did it sound like a Hallmark card? We might want it to be. The world of advertising has done a great job of managing our expectations, packaging this story as if it were neat and tidy: Christmas cards with cozy fireside scenes, families gathered in perfect harmony. But the Christmas story we just heard starts out not with cozy fireside scenes but with emperors and governors. People with names like Augustus and Quirinius. … [Read more...]
Eat, Drink, and be…Mary!
Tonight we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Christmas proclaims to the world that God is not far off. God who created each of us became one of us, and continues to be among us. A time of celebration is a time of feasting. Our feasting proclaims that spiritual things are not all invisible. Food and drink, flesh and blood— as the book of Genesis reminds us, “God created it all; and it was good.” Across our land and across our globe people come together on this day, eating and drinking. … [Read more...]