Come and Behold Him!

Anyone who has ever had a baby knows the world becomes a friendly place when you have a baby in tow. Strangers in the grocery store, the post office, or the mall, who would otherwise walk right past as though you didn’t exist, suddenly have the time to stop and chat. They even do a bit of flirting—making silly faces and funny noises—hoping to get a gurgled chuckle or a toothless smile from the little one perched in the shopping cart.

I wonder if it wasn’t something like that when Joseph and Mary arrived at the temple to dedicate their baby to God. As the young family entered, two senior citizens waiting inside turned their heads. If they were anything like folks in the canned vegetables aisle, their faces brightened and they moved closer, just to catch a glimpse of the baby the youthful mother was carrying. . .

Maybe this Christmas we’ll all stop, if only for a moment, to come and behold the baby, to share the peace of Simeon and enter the joy of Anna. Come, let us celebrate the light that has broken through our darkness.

Read the whole article from Carolyn James' Whitby Forum.

Christmas peeled back

Christmas will come anyway this year, as it always does. From some of the notes Frank and I have received during this difficult time, I’m beginning to think that Christmas is just what grieving people need—not because it distracts us from our pain or provides some jolly (but temporary) antidote for depression. Rather it is because sorrow, as one friend put it, “peels back Christmas to the bare essentials” and intensifies our focus on Jesus and why we needed Him to come. Maybe in our troubles, we have even greater reason to celebrate His coming—for only in Him do we have a solid hope that one day He will wipe away all tears.

from Carolyn James

An Open Letter to the Families of the Climbers

From another blog, there is an open letter to the families of the climbers. Father Jonathan wonders why this story has captured our attention. (I have heard it said that it is the "Baby Jessica" story of our time!) Father Jonathan says,

It’s you, all of you, three families that in tragedy have become one family. Together you have approached this never-ending nightmare with dignity, fortitude and shocking faith. You are an icon of what we would like to be.

After one of the men was found, he continues,

You went to bed last night without knowing which of the three men had died. We can’t really imagine the pain of such a sleepless night, but we can imagine what was on your heart and mind. You were hoping for the best for your own loved one, while also hoping for the best for the other two. And somehow, this hope for the best for all included a humble overture to God’s mysterious ways.

Sad

Kelly James was found in the snow cave, but he was not alive. The search continues for the others, but it doesn't look very hopeful, since no one has heard from them at all. The blog for them continues here.

Pray for the Climbers

I read on The Point that one of the three missing climbers on Mount Hood is Kelly James, the brother of Frank James who is the wife of Carolyn Custis James, who wrote When Life and Beliefs Collide: How Knowing God Makes a Difference. Having read her book and learned so much of her, I feel like she is my friend, and now my friend's brother-in-law is in trouble. Keep the family in your prayers too! Updates available here.