Christ Hidden Within Us
Meditations on the Birth of Jesus
“It’s a Christmas devotional if you want something that talks about everything from Roman occupation, American agriculture, parenting, and how we treat those forgotten amongst us. You know, like your standard cute little Christmastime devotional.”
In 2015, I was struck with Henri Nouwen’s simple journal entry in his compilation, “The Road to Daybreak,” where he wrote of the mercy of God to give Elizabeth to Mary that she may not be alone in her carrying of the miraculous. From that devotional moment, I wrote a series of meditations on the relationship between Mary, the Mother of God, and Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Those meditations kept building until I saw I had another book brewing.
I started in the middle of the story
Fr. Henri said that we too are like Mary and Elizabeth, where we share in the joys and challenges of carrying the promises of God and Christ Himself within us, and it is critical that we not be alone in our carrying. When I saw those words I was deeply moved to write.
And I wrote, and wrote, and wrote, until I spent two years writing through the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel.
There’s mention of roman sieges, intimate moments between spouses, the imaginations of the minds of those in the story, a bit on tolerance and acceptance of those who live differently than you and me, several instances of my own life and drama, talk of death and suffering, Orthodox traditions and Catholic doctrines, a brief history of Palestine, Rome, and ancient kingdoms, and carefully crafted images that bring me (and hopefully you) to a contemplative stillness where we can begin to “taste and see.