The shepherds weren’t looking for trouble that night. Wait. That’s not true. They were looking for trouble that night. They looked for trouble every night. They spent their nights keeping watch over their flocks. Keeping watch is looking for trouble. Keeping watch is being completely engrossed in the work at hand. Keeping watch means hanging […]

The travel-worn man was a good listener. It’s not always that way. Some travelers command the stage. They walk into a room and attract attention. Others, however, sit along the back of the room. They sit next to the quiet people. They smile. They ask gentle questions. They are genuinely curious. You find yourself opening […]

The woman was pregnant. She was thrilled. The pregnancy was, to say the least, unexpected. She had been abstinent, so abstinent that there was no possibility. None. The only thing that she could attribute this baby to was what the angel had told her: “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the […]

When I hear people talking about wanting to go back to traditional Christmas celebrations, wanting to keep Christ in Christmas, I wonder what they mean. There is no mention in the Bible of how many wise men came looking for someone. There might have been three, but there might have been seven. Or five. Mary […]

You don’t need the cliches about holiday stress, about living up to expectations, about making sure that everything is memorable and perfect and enough.  You just have to look down at that list on your desk. The one on the scrap of paper that you wrote last night when you couldn’t sleep and you realized […]