For centuries before Jesus’ birth, the Jewish people waited for the coming Messiah… and for centuries after His birth, they waited still. As a whole, they found no hope in Christ because he brought no hope, not of the kind they wanted–a Savior who would deliver their nation. They expected the Messiah to save them from their enemies, not to save them from themselves. I think many of today’s religious people have the same mix-up.
To speak faith into current issues, I started another blog (here). I took that conversation elsewhere to keep this blog safe for readers because controversy often creates anger, especially among the religiously committed, increasingly so in our polarized country. This Christian acrimony is deeply disturbing to me because it feels contrary to the Spirit of Christ. Many believe that the great danger in our world today is the moral drift of society and that we must take a stand against the enemy that assaults us with godlessness.
But Christ did not come to save me from the moral decay outside myself, to place me in a safer world. He came to save me from the moral rot inside myself, from spiritual distortion and blindness, from self-loathing and self-worship, from the pride that would perseverate on the sins of others rather than my own. Let us put Christ back in Christmas by focusing on our own drift away from Him rather than on the drift of our society. His second advent will heal the world as a whole, but my present hope is in His promise to start that redemptive work in me.
Janathan Grace Reflections 
I really like this one. Wish we could light some candles tonight and sit together and reflect on this.
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Kimberly and Janathan, you both continue to amaze me and impress me! Kimberly, I am very proud of you and who you are and I love you very much. It is a love from far away, but that does not diminish it in any way. Janathan, I do not know you as deeply yet, but I want to say that I am proud and happy that you and my daughter have found what I shall call “trust” in each other and what also is called love.
A brief reaction to your recent deliberations….. I realize that some days “my cross” is heavier than on other days. I wonder if that is because I am getting help without me really knowing it, while other times , I do know it.
Thank you for your kind words, Tom. Thank you for sharing that you also have heavy days. I am always grateful for any help or support I get from others or from God to bear the cross, especially when it feels too heavy. May you continue to find help during those times.