Thanks be

This Christmas (and I hope you had a merry one!) I got treated to time "at home" with family and friends.

I don't discount the ability to get home for Christmas - to travel and to have people to travel to. I really felt priviledged this year, in so many ways, to spend time with, to share gifts and food and conversation with, and to experience life during this season with those I love.

If there's anything to be said about the craziness of the Christmas holiday, it's that it has a purpose. We need to feel the frenzy of it all - as we cannot wait to be with each other again - to realize how much we mean to one another. Imagine how momentous the first Christmas must have been, when Immanuel, God with us, was reunited with his beloved children in a brand new way, the simplest way really, of being in the flesh and blood presence of all who he had created.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy Kwanzaa! We are loved.