In the Crumpled Paper

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedThank you for praying for me and Belonging House.

Thirty years ago,
the week after I finished seminary,
my parents’ next door neighbor came by.
He had a big rusty tool box in his hands.

“I just came back from an auction
and I bought this great toolbox,”
he said.
“I was a bit surprised
when I opened it up and it was full of newspaper!”
And then he proceeded to open up the toolbox.

Yes, it was full of newspaper.
But the newspaper hid something else.
It held over thirty nativity scene figures.
And my neighbor
since I was an artist,
and I was going to be a priest,
figured I should have all the stuff in the newspaper.
I reached into the crumpled paper
and there I found the Baby Jesus.

And I took the pieces,
and I fixed them up,
and I put them out the next Christmas.

Eventually,
I discovered
that I was given a mid-1930’s
Marolin Nativity set.
It was a treasure.

The Kingdom of God
does not come
in the way we expect.
God took on flesh
when a virgin said yes to an angel.
And then God invaded our broken world
and became one of us.
In the genealogy of Jesus
there is more than one fallen woman
and more than one failure in life.
And yet,
Jesus took on their flesh,
and Jesus became one of us,
and God was found in human likeness.

God became a man.
And shepherds were a bit surprised
when they were greeted by angels.
My neighbor was a bit surprised when he bought
a rusty tool box,
and in the end
had found
Joseph, Mary,
and a little figure of our Lord.

God is looking to surprise us all
in places
and in ways
we would least expect.

Don’t miss our Lord Jesus
in the midst of all that’s happening around us.
Jesus might be in the midst of all the crumpled paper.

Merry Christmas to the entire Belonging House International family.

He Never Fails,

Last week we received our tax exempt status. Thank you Lord!

Please note there will be no Daily Prayer Furnace from December 25-January 5. We will be taking our annual Christmas holiday. There will be no House of Artisans Sunday 28 December.