Let us pray.

At your birth, Lord Jesus, bless us as we come to Bethlehem,
where animals and angels, shepherds and seekers,
together behold your face.
Here snow becomes straw and frost becomes flowers,
as winter melts into everlasting spring.
In our holy Christmas, in this festival of Christ,
give us the riches of your poverty.
Show us the power of your weakness,
as we join with the angels in proclaiming your praise:
Glory in heaven and peace on earth, now and forever.  Amen.

Sisters and brothers, grace to you and peace from God the Word, from Jesus Christ the Word made flesh, and from the holy & life-giving Spirit who sets the Word to music in us.  Amen.

An admission on this holy night: I’ve become quite fascinated by the internet phenomenon known as Facebook this year. (& my husband Christopher would say that’s just a bit of an understatement.) Go figure: that this grown-up kid who, in elementary school in the late 1960s and 70s would consistently get checks on his report card for being unable to avoid unnecessary talking in the classroom, would now — 40 years later — be so thoroughly mesmerized, completely intrigued, and totally distracted, by this self-described “social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study, and live around them.”

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Sisters & brothers, grace to you and peace from the One who was, and who is, and who is to come, Father, Son, & Holy Spirit. Amen.

Have you noticed that the closer we get to Christmas, the more annoying the interruptions of life become? As our time becomes more and more crunched, with “to-do” lists guiding our daily schedules, with holiday activities and obligations piling up on our calendars, and with pending tasks that must be completed driving our days, anything “unexpected” has a way of just ticking-you-off times-ten! That car that pulls out in front of you in a classic L.A. “me first!” move becomes a gross personal violation, the knock on the door or the phone call which comes right in the middle of your very important task becomes a major offense, and even the rain and cold of the past week become great personal sources of vexation and affliction.

As a beloved seminary professor used to gently advise us who were preparing for parish ministry on these matters, “Don’t view such events as interruptions, view them as ‘ministry opportunities’ ” — which sounded really great in the classroom, but really gets under your skin in real time and real life.

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Sisters and brothers, grace to you and peace from God our source, Christ our salvation, and the Spirit our sustainer. Amen.

I know I’ve told you this before, but every once in a while, I am tickled by one particular street sign which punctuates our boulevards and avenues in this community. Here and there, every so-many blocks, you will come across it somewhere between a restricted parking and a speed limit sign, and unexpectedly and mysteriously out of the blue there will come the message which simply reads, “SHARE THE ROAD.”

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