December 17, 2023: The Lack of Denial - Michael Hidalgo

So many circumstances surrounding the first Christmas recorded in Matthew and Luke were fraught with harsh circumstances. Rather than paint an idillic picture like Norman Rockwell may have, the gospel writers point to the reality of a dark world filled with dark powers at work.  Against this backdrop we learn of the birth of Jesus, and even after his birth we quickly learn things were still not okay. There is no sanitizing this Christmas story which tells us about a candle lit in a dark room. While we still attempt to light up the dark nights in December, in some ways that may be a small way of denying the darkness that remains in our world. It may even drown out the real light that came to us on that sacred evening thousands of years ago. In this story, we find that the Bible does not shy away from the reality of pain, sorrow and darkness, but plunges headlong into it. This is what the Christmas story teaches us: God does not stand off, but is there in the midst of it all – vulnerable and with us.