We step back in time, 150 years.
I am quick to romanticize the past, to think that The Coming was somehow easier to recognize in a time less complicated than our own.
And in the stillness, a voice whispers that The Coming was relevant ~ remains relevant ~ only to the extent that it is allowed to intersect with lives in the current tense. Grace that interrupted history 2000 years ago seeks to interrupt us yet again.
In the words of the old carol,
"O Holy Child of Bethlehem...be born in us today." (Phillips Brooks)
Christmas in the present. May it be so.