Week 11 (Year 4, NL)

Mary and Joseph must have felt dejected and homeless.

The God of exiles, refugees, and migrants still shines light amid today’s present darkness.

The prophetic power of a candle in the window

Our happiness is incomplete.

Preachers who value their pulpit would be wise to avoid Isaiah 9 this Christmas Eve.

I understand the people who only show up once a year, just to hold a candle of their own.

What do these words from Isaiah ben Amoz mean for us?

My first instinct is to meditate on Isaiah 9 in light of its historical situation, which is bound up with the geopolitics of the late 8^th century BCE.

Before his questioning of the doctrine of hell sparked such a (ahem) firestorm, Rob Bell wrote in Velvet Elvis a chapter about yokes.

There are places where Epiphany light shines through people who do the best of things in the worst of times.

Light is light. And only light can bring our fragmented darkness into proper perspective and allow us to see things whole.

We have many defenses against hearing the Christmas readings and taking them to heart.