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Did the Shepherds in Bethlehem Include Girls?
Does your nativity set have any female shepherds? Until last year when a friend gifted me with a set that included one, mine didn’t. For the longest time I thought shepherds were only male—an image I probably picked up unconsciously from art. Without anything said outright about the sex of shepherds, I had internalized the idea that “shepherd” was a guy job.If I saw a Christmas pageant with girls dressed in bathrobes holding shepherds’ crooks, I would tell myself the real nativity story lacked girls, so the directors were taking creative license, adding roles to include all the kids in the show. But now I know those females in bathrobes…
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Revisiting the Typical Christmas Nativity to find a Relatable Story
The typical modern western Christmas nativity story goes something like this: A shrouded Mary, heavily pregnant, sits sidesaddle on a donkey. Beside her walks her husband, holding a stick. They arrive in starry Bethlehem late at night and frantically go from inn to inn searching for a place to spend the night because her labor has begun. But there is no vacancy. Finally, in desperation, the couple accepts an offer to sleep in a stable where the farm animals lodge. Somehow, Mary gives birth, wraps a silent baby Jesus in a swaddle, and places him on a bed of hay in a manger. The animals gather round and peacefully approach…
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An Advent Reflection: Why It Hurts at Christmas
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” So begins Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities, written in the time of the revolutions. But he could have just as easily been talking about Advent. Christ has already come in the flesh; but he has not yet made all things new. So while it is the best of times—Christ is Lord—it is the worst of times, because He has not yet returned. Many of our great Christmas carols acknowledge this already-but-not-yet state. Isaac Watts wrote, “He comes to make his blessings known far as the curse is found.” Yes, God blesses. But the curse is still found.…
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All is Well
We travelled at night on our way home from Thanksgiving, on highways surrounded by emptiness. Leaving family behind and reflecting on what this past year revealed about our country, world, and my life triggered some concern and sadness. It doesn’t take long to develop a gloomy character or holiday funk. Then, interrupting my downheartedness, streaming through the car speakers, came the beautiful Christmas song “All is Well” by Michael W. Smith. I sat there in the darkness, repeating in my mind, but all is not well. In fact, I could create quite a list of situations I would love to see changed. Couldn’t you? None of us have to search…
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Preparation for Christmas
Remembering Love at ChristmasI am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have lovedyou, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are Mydisciples: if you have love for one another. – John 13:34-35Love.Jesus commands us to love. But what does this look like?How can we love better during this Christmas season of joy and merry?How do you love your obnoxious neighbor who has drills going and hammers clamoringat all hours of the day and night?How do you love the child who is talking back?How do you love the spouse who is too tired to talk or spend…
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Born Under the Shadow of a Cross
What will you tell your Children about the Christ of Christmas this year? Perhaps they are old enough to learn that Isaiah calls Him a man of sorrows; and is it any wonder? From the moment of His conception Jesus was feeling loss. With loss comes grief. And yet somehow, in the very midst of grieving, our Lord found joy. “…for the joy that was set before Him…” Hebrews 12:2b Scripture gives us a glimpse of the eternal infinite God. We know that He created time, space, and matter out of nothing, Genesis 1 and John 1:3. Then, Galatians 4:4 tells us that when it was appropriate, God Himself stepped…
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Plan Ahead for Meaningful Holidays: Make This The Year You Get It Right
I’m still working on the shopping list for the Thanksgiving menu. And it feels a bit early to plan now for the Christmas season. But the first Sunday in Advent falls on December 1 this year. And we want to experience a sane, wise holiday season, right? We want to eschew the insanity that often comes with the celebration. And that requires some planning. And so I give you my annual list of seven suggestions. Here’s the 2024 offering. Fifteen minutes of planning now can prevent fifteen hours of chaos later. So schedule a date with your calendar—perhaps while having a pedicure. Take the insanity out of the season so…
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Welcoming the White Space
It’s quiet now. That time of the year when we finally catch our breath. The Christmas parties and family gatherings have mostly concluded. It isn’t quite time to ring in the new year. It’s the white space. I used to think the week between Christmas and New Year’s was one of the most boring of the year. All the excitement of one holiday wrapped up. The anticipation and planning for a new year not quite here yet. But over the past few years, this week has become one of my favorites. Our family lets out a collective exhale. We sleep in and make cinnamon toast. We clean out and deep…
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Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love in Mary’s Story
As we head into the final week before Christmas, we expectantly anticipate the coming—the Advent—of the Son of the Most High as his mother, Mary, did. Consider with me the traditional Advent themes as seen in Mary’s story. HOPE “Listen: You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” —the angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth (LUKE 1:31-33) The Bible defines hope as patiently…
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Making Christmas the Best Time of the Year
The Christmas season is magical. Who doesn’t like a good Hallmark movie? It can take us to Magic Land, where everything turns out peachy and keen. It always has a happy ending. People always work out their differences. Everyone is happy in the end. I think that’s why I like those feel-good movies so much. I like being ushered into a fantasy world where all turns out dreamlike. Perhaps this season brings hurt and pain for you. If you’ve lost a loved one around this reminders that you’re not as close to people you love as you’d like to be. This pain can cause loneliness and sadness. We all experience different feelings around…
