Christmas...

And, it's Christmas. In some ways, it's another morning. Dog outside. Coffee made. Dog inside. And,, of course, the meaningful ritual of emptying the clean dishes, filling the dirty. Reading the texts.

In some ways it's very different. My favorite difference is that our consumer culture, for the most part, is shut down. Few have to work today. We have an opportunity to live out the story that many of us heard  last night, the story of a loving God who refuses to give up on our brokenness, who is determined to reconcile us to each other, us to God.

The whole book of 1 John is about God's love and how it changes us. It's short…you should read it. Five chapters of the impact of God's love on the world.

Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Four families that I love have newborns this Christmas. The oldest clocks in at weeks, the youngest was born yesterday. Having a child changes you. Love is literally born. You suddenly live and breathe for another human being. You find yourself willing to die for that child as well.

It's the closest I can come to the remarkable birth that takes place in Bethlehem.

 God. Loves. Us.

If we love one another, God's love is perfected in us.

Merry Christmas.