So I was rummaging around the proverbial “internet attic” looking for something, and I stumbled across this box hidden behind a bunch of other stuff. Picking it up, I wondered out loud, “Hullo! What’s all this, then?” (I said it that way, because my internal voice is that of a British constable.) I held it up to the light and blew off an inch-thick layer of dust. Written in permanent marker on the outside of the box was the word “Blog.” Suddenly, I remembered: “Oh Yeah! This church has a blog!”
Ok. That’s how it happened in my imagination. Really, though, I’ve had a few faithful people send me some kind reminders that I need to get off my duff and get this thing going again. They are so right. To those of you who have “spurred me on,” thanks.
But man has it been hard. And the longer I’ve let it sit, the more immovable this thing appears to be. I guess, as with most other things, the trick is to stop fretting about how to start it up again and just start. So let’s just plunge right in…
It’s always nice when something you say is echoed by someone who is brilliant. Click here to read a great post from Ben Witherington about the modern picture of the Nativity Scene and how the biblical witness actually describes something else. He speaks to that whole “No Room in the inn” idea, saying, as I did last Sunday, that Jesus and his family weren’t forced to live in a barn because the Motel 6 didn’t have any vacancies. More likely, they slept in an attached bedroom that also housed livestock: a common practice in those days.
If you don’t read the whole article, at least check out this beautiful little paragraph at the end of his entry. I wish I had said this:
The old medieval Christmas poem said ‘though Christ a thousand times in Bethlehem be born, if he’s not born in you, your heart is still forlorn.’ Let me just tell you however, if you let that Guest into your inner sanctum, even if you put him in the very back, he will surely take over and become the center of attention in due course.
Nicely said.
Coming Soon: The Golden Compass