Sending you and the ones you love wishes for a Happy Christmas.
“One of the most precious gifts of life is a sense of wonderment, a sense of awe, a sense of the holy.”
The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, December 25, 1977
In this season of celebration and merriment, taking the time to pause and reflect on the connected, precious, and sacred nature of life can be a gift we give ourselves. As the civil rights pioneer and Episcopal saint Pauli Murray said in a long-ago Christmas sermon,
The wonder of Christmas is that the greatest event in the history of humanity came silently in the night . . . The wonder of Christmas is that in the darkest hour of loneliness and despair, new hope is born if we have faith. . . .
The wonder of Christmas is that suffering and death are not the last word. Emmanuel—God—is with us in every human situation. The little unprotected baby in the manger and the desolate man on the cross revealed that where God is least expected, in the most unlikely times and places—whether at the beginning of life or in the emptiness of death—God is at hand! In every agony, every crisis we are not alone. The light of God’s eternal love shines in the darkness and we shall be safe.
There has been much to trouble our minds over the past year. But the wonder of Christmas, as Murray said, is that the suffering and death that is around us is not the last word. Instead of being crushed by suffering and death, we have been empowered by the Spirit of the Holy One to live the paradox of power and vulnerability in love.
It is a mystery on many levels, but to me the wonder of Christmas means that it is possible to see the connectedness of all creation. To see heaven—not the streets paved with gold stuff but what life is truly meant to be—on earth. And we see those connections and a glimpse of the true reality of life through love. The Rev. Sarah Taylor-Miller eloquently suggested as much in a recent sermon at St. Alban’s Church in DC.
“Wherever we see acts of mercy, wherever we see true love witnessed in the paradox of power and vulnerability, in the feeding of the hungry, in the healing of the sick, in the welcoming of the stranger, we are seeing the image of the invisible God.”
“Life is a precious unfathomably beautiful gift,” writes Anne Lamott. And it can be impossibly difficult “here, on the incarnational side of things.” Because I believe all truth is a paradox, I love the thought that Christmas is about the paradox of power and vulnerability in love.
May this year’s season—in whatever way you celebrate—bring you happiness, help you treasure what is important in your life, and build hope for a future where love trumps hate.
Happy Christmas, and best wishes for 2026.
More to come . . .
DJB
Photo of Christmas Stars by Niklas Ohlrogge (niamoh.de) on Unsplash. Photo by DJB of the wreath on the Brown’s front door, created by Park Florist in Takoma Park.
MORE TO COME... 