We are almost there.  Just over that next hill is the stable, and in the stable the manger.  And for us in the church, of course, that manger is the heart of it all.  We’re almost there, but you still have time to finish your wish list.  Are you working on it?  Feel free to write down your heart’s desires.

Make your list and check it twice or even more, as time allows.  What are you seeking at the manger this year?  Just remember, as some great sage has told us: “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime you just might find you get what you need.”

Looking for power?

         You will find only a helpless baby.

Looking for success?

         You will find poverty, a stable and a feed-trough cradle.

Looking for wisdom and knowledge?

         You will find only an uneducated young couple.

Looking for status?

         You will find lowly shepherds, fresh from their herd and smelling like it.

But come to the manger seeking harmony and sweet accord,

         And you will find one the prophet called Prince of Peace.

Come seeking hope,

         And you will find the Alpha and Omega, who was and is and is to come.

Come seeking meaning,

         And you will find the one who is the Way and the Truth and the Life.

Come seeking mercy,

         And you will find the bearer of God’s wondrous grace.

And when you find that peace, hope, meaning and mercy, you can discover also God’s true and wondrous power that can transform lives, communities and the world.

You can find a depth of success you never dreamed possible—success measured in moments, relationships, compassion.

You can find wisdom and knowledge grounded in nothing less than God’s own grace and truth.

And when you find these gifts, you will come to know yourself as you were intended to be—a child of God.  And that, my friend, is status.

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