During the secular holiday season, it can feel as though we're expected to be happy all the time - have a holly, jolly merry Christmas!  But the message the angel brought to the shepherds on that first Christmas didn't offer happiness - it offered joy, which is a very different thing. 

The Advent story is showing us that something beautiful can come from the unexpected, even the misunderstood.  The journey might start with hope-but it will take us through surrender before arriving at peace.

Hope isn't a way to deny our current pain by envisioning a happier future. Hope is present in the messiness of our lives, giving us the courage for the next step forward.

By the time we begin to sing Christmas songs, and by the time the tree and lights are up, by the time Mary is showing, we are already in the middle of something.  The Magi have already left Persia heading east towards yonder star.  Let's be Honest.

The Greek woman with a sick child knew that in the cultural context Jesus and his disciples came from, she was very much an outsider. But she asked, and found that the abundance of Jesus' salvation could reach even her.

Jesus' invitation is to follow not to arrive, the transformation happens on the way.

We may think we are keen to learn new things about Jesus. But when those new things conflict with firmly held views, it may be hard to absorb them.

Sometimes the miracles we consume that look like our daily bread don’t seem as big.  But they desire to nourish us best.

Herod is an archetype for materialistic political leaders but Jesus is bringing a different kind of kingdom

If people cannot see that God is with us, they aren't going to be able to see God is in us.