Your first Christmas, your last Christmas, this Christmas, and the redemption of the whole world are all happening right now, forever.

When the escape from Egypt was certain, when the last furious wave had closed over their enemies' heads and the dangerous waters lay smooth again, when the Israelites could finally turn toward the future without fear that the past would snatch them back--what did they see before them? Not the...

They had no idea where they were going, when they left that night, in the dark, without lights, without shoes, without bread, their children smothered against them so they would make no noise....

Every day we experience hunger and yearning: for food, for approval, for respect, for love, for meaningful work, for any and enough work, for home, for family, for friends, for health, for healing, for hope, for the departed, for the newly arrived, for the green trees, for the cool clean waters, ...

Emmanuel means "God is with us." Who is your Emmanuel? Who is your "God is with us," the one you were promised, the one you have been waiting for? For the ancient prophet Isaiah, he was a boy soon to be born who would guide the people of Judah back to peace and harmony with God....