Journal

Tag: Christmas

I Wonder as I Wander

The year was 1933, deep into the Great Depression. In Murphy, NC, a small Appalachian town, a group of evangelicals seeking to raise funds had been ordered out of town. At one point before leaving: “A girl had stepped out to the edge of the little platform...

What leads you to wonder?

My first invitation to wonder about Jesus’ coming came when I was a boy, stealing away to my childhood living room and sitting alone among all the bright trimmings of the season. Without really knowing it was happening, the mystery of the season seeped into my soul....

Waiting for Jesus – First week of Advent

Every year as Advent begins our family takes out its Christmas library – the loosely curated stash of books acquired over many years conveying the Christmas story and spirit in poetry, images, songs, and stories from across centuries and around the world.  At the...
And He Came

And He Came

Almost 20 years ago, I had three weeks in between graduating from college and heading off to seminary.   And one of those weeks I spent with my dad, canoeing the chain of 10,000 lakes in the vast, wild, and absolutely unpeopled Boundary Waters between Minnesota and...

On Mary

Soon on Christmas Day we’ll celebrate the climax of the season of Advent.    Waiting turns into rejoicing! And yet in these last couple of days of Advent, there is still time to be blessed by one who has a special prominence in the Nativity story, Mary, the mother of...

A Christmas Story

It was a chilly evening in Bethlehem. No snow, but definitely a bitter wind that made you want to seek cover. Not long after graduating from college, I was there.  Privileged to attend a Christmas Eve Mass at the 4th century Church of the Nativity, I prayed just a few...

From John Michael Talbot on Christmas

I’ve deeply appreciated John Michael Talbot for many years.  His music and his life has shaped my heart.  And I found his Christmas letter this year beautiful.  Merry Christmas! We have seen a lot in the year, months, and weeks prior to Christmas 2012. Just to name a...