Several years ago, as I began packing up the pieces of my nativity to store them for another eleven months, I discovered that Baby Jesus had gone missing. Mawce, then two, liked to take him out of his manger, kiss him, and carry him around grasped in their fist. I figured he must be around the house somewhere, so I set the box for the nativity set aside, believing that Baby Jesus would turn up eventually. Sometimes it is hard to find Jesus in the midst of Christmas. The very things meant to invoke him—the carols, the decorations, the pageants, the gift-giving, the celebration—can leave an emptiness behind.
How do we hold on to Jesus during Advent and in the days and months that are ahead of us? As tightly as my younger child held Baby Jesus in their fist, they inevitably dropped him somewhere. Faith is trusting that Christ will come to us again even when we think we have lost him. We do not have to wait until the next big occasion. We can find him through prayer, through service, through worship, and in each other. I found my Baby Jesus under the sofa cushion. I knew he was there somewhere, waiting for me to discover him.
—Rebecca Glancy
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