Christians are celebrating God's love within the world as expressed through the Light of Jesus born into the world in a way that is so pure that Jesus was born from a Virgin. This is the profound message of truth for all people no-matter how we understand the scripture. Traditionalists feel comfort in one way while progressive see the birth as a metaphor to proclaim the pure love of God. What really matters is that we commit to take the message and live it out in our lives.
Part of the darkness in the world that the message of love calls us to overcome is child abuse and the variety of adverse childhood experiences that come and are often condoned in our society. Joseph protected Jesus as God told Joseph to escape with Mary to Egypt due to Herod's intention to kill all baby boys under the age of 2. We are called to protect all children in our midst. It is not an easy ministry but one we must always be aware. As progressive citizens we must never hide from our responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.
As we begin the new calendar year, I invite us all to look priorities and reconcile them to the mandate to be the light of Jesus shinning in the darkness. The whole purpose of Christmas that we celebrate now. Happy 2020!
