Moving From Fear to Joy

Moving From Fear to Joy

We all know what a shepherd looks like, don’t we? About three feet tall. Wears a striped bathrobe. Shaggy head adorned with a blue bath towel and a headband. Holds a crooked stick. Wears Nikes. In my day, they were Converse. Despite all the competing grand productions...

A Political Nativity in the Nation’s Capital

In early December, the streets of Capitol Hill are briefly transformed into a first century Middle Eastern scene as robed people march through the streets with sheep, donkeys and camels. A “live nativity,” this annual event started in 2010 to enact the...

Photo or Portrait? How to Discern the Real Jesus

News reports on the new book by Pope Benedict XVI on the infancy narratives of Jesus observe that he “debunks” some of the traditions associated with the nativity stories, such as animals in the stable and angels singing to the baby Jesus. It is easy to...

Looking at Christmas Through a Different Lens

Looking at the world through the lens of Bethlehem’s manger can make every birth a Christmas, and every life an incarnation. Several years ago, a student responded to a class discussion of the birth accounts in Matthew and Luke, the relatively late and rather...