Electric icicles are draped from eaves that never have seen snow. Inflatables, some 10 feet tall, loom high above synthetic reindeer, grazing on front lawns. Mythical figures never known in Bethlehem crowd close to dash away whatever pain may linger in the story. Back-lit Nativity scenes help us believe that everything that night was just as festive, clean, and comfortable as all the stuff by which we annually remember it. But it was painful to be Joseph—much harder still to be Mary—when none were welcoming and no inn had a room. The irony was palpable and blunt: “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him,” the Gospel says (Jn 1:11). Royal lineage did not protect Him. Creatorship gave Him no sweet advantages. The wealthy and the powerful were threatened, not elated, by His birth. All that the principalities and powers could do was summoned to make His entry random, painful, and forgettable. But heaven had—and heaven has—a beautiful and gracious plan. For every time we sing a carol, or read the story, or tell a child, we push the darkness back a bit. “I am the light of the world,” Jesus says. “Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness” (Jn 8:12). The grace He gives, the life He beckons us to live, “is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day” (Prov 4:18). Keep singing now: the light will grow. Decide to tell the story. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott
FREELY RECEIVED AND GLADLY GIVEN (September 01.2023)
NEW AND BETTER STORIES (August 25, 2023)
WHEN THERE’S NO FIX (August 18, 2023)
NOTHING TO OFFER (August 11, 2023)
WORDWISE (August 04, 2023)
BELOW THE SURFACE (July 28, 2023)
BEYOND SELF-HELP (July 21, 2023)
GRACE AMONG THE HOURS (July 14, 2023)
HEALED—AND HEALED AGAIN (July 07, 2023)
GATHERED BY GRACE (June 30, 2023)
CHOOSING GRACE (June 23, 2023)
GOOD FOR ALL (June 16, 2023)
RESPONSIBLE GRACE (June 09, 2023)
DYING TO FORGIVE (June 02, 2023)
GRACE AND CLARITY (May 26, 2023)
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HELD (May 19, 2023)
AS GENTLE AS GRACE (May 12, 2023)
DON’T TRUST YOUR HEART (May 05, 2023)
UNLISTED (April 28, 2023)
YOU’VE GOT A (GRACEFUL) FRIEND (April 21, 2023)
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