Merry Christmas

Approximately 2040 years ago, far from Florida in the small village of Bethlehem, a young, frightened teen aged girl gave birth to a baby not conceived by her husband. She had not the luxury of a beautiful birthing suite at the hospital and a kind attending physician, but through a series of unfortunate events, found herself laboring in a smelly barn. This apparent illegitimate birth proved itself the most legitimate conception in history.

This young girl carried not only the privilege but also the heavy burden and responsibility of raising no ordinary baby, but the son of God himself, a baby fully human and paradoxically, fully God. We've all failed at times raising and mentoring our offspring but imagine the weight of raising a God-child.

The mighty God and creator of all existence enveloped himself in flesh and blood and entered our reality to serve as a surrogate for the sins of all the earth so as to nail them to a cross and permanently defeat evil.

So during this holiday season, rather than dwell on your own misery and burdens, focus on others less fortunate and how you may serve them. Remember the overwhelming sacrifice made for us by our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and their families at home. God Bless all and Merry Christmas!

P.S. Keep in mind that Jesus never celebrated Christmas but observed Hanukkah so a special blessing to God's chosen people! Thanks for the greatest gift of all.