Even though we continue to suffer and doubt and grieve, tonight, our Advent longing makes room for Christmas JOY. Because in the incarnation of Jesus, the word made flesh, God has taken on all that it means to be human… All our suffering and pain and weakness and frailty are now shared by God and brought into God's presence to be seen and dignified and honored. From this moment on, friends, humanity and divinity are inextricably connected at the deepest level. From this moment on, we have a human God. And our full human experience is honored as holy.