I'm chillin' at the in-laws for a few days. I'm rested for the first time since June. I'm turning my attention to getting back into health and shape. The new year feels good as it heads my way. Beeki and I have our health. Bert and Ernie are the greatest dogs that ever lived. I got my MDiv. Brother Brentski is getting married. Sisser got married this past year. Despite tough economic times, I've got a job in the Arts. So things are pretty good.

Of course, things aren't so good for many people in the world. There's war, poverty, famine, death, addiction, loss, pain, cruelty, suffering, and hate. As much as I'd like to pretend that those things are far away from me, they're not. They're in my own city and it's only by the grace of God moment to moment that they're not in my life. Blessings I don't deserve, but for which I am nonetheless grateful.

This time of year there are many distractions. Good distractions. Distractions like giving gifts to each other, spending time with family, watching football, watching television, and eating too much. Any of them can, and often is, turned from goodness to something else. And we often let ourselves get distracted by other silly things like over-inflating a "war on Christmas," finding the "perfect" gift for someone, castigating those who say "Happy Holidays," and force-feeding ourselves "memories."

Is it so much to just let the celebrations of the season come? That's all I'm trying to do. I want to enjoy each celebration and moment as it comes. And, no, none of it is Christmas. It's nice. It's good. It's very valuable. But it's not Christmas.

Christmas is the ultimate expression of God identifying with us. From the poorest and lowliest to the richest and mightiest, we are all affected by the Incarnation. And that's what we have to celebrate. Retailers can't tell us differently. Churches can't tell us differently. Leaders can't tell us differently. Families can't tell us differently. We can have all the good, valuable, wonderful familial and societal celebrations that accompany this season and have Christmas too.

So Merry Christmas to you all. I'm having a wonderful season right now and a great blessed Christmas as well. I hope the same for each of you.