Emmanuel . . .

God chose to come and be with us. That is Christmas.

We celebrate Jesus' birth, which I love. I love it because He didn't take shortcuts and just arrange to be plopped down in the desert outside of town and walk in one day full grown and escape in a celestial pod when things got too hot. He signed on for the whole experience. For me Christmas is a celebration of that whole experience; not just the babe in the manger, but the boy at the temple, the young passionate rabbi who challenged the religious and political institutions of the day, the revolutionary teacher whose words changed the world, the gregarious friend who enjoyed crowds and a good party, and the loving, committed martyr who took the whole world on the shoulders of his outstretched arms.

It seems to me we talk a lot about Jesus in terms of the failures of humanity. A doomed experiment in need of a Savior. Fair discussion to be sure. But maybe it would be helpful if we celebrated Christmas as God's affirmation of how good humanity can be.

If there were no hope for us, I figure God would have chosen a different path. No bailouts for us. But God saw something in us that could be redeemed.

But, and this is just my own theology, I think He knew He could see it better only if he could be with us. Be one of us. Be like us. And so He came. He learned about us and we learned about Him because He came.

So in this advent, this waiting, look for the good. Look for Peace. Look for Justice. Look for Love. But to truly search, to truly know, we must go. We must be with.