"O little town of Bethlehem…the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight."

Like most of us, I suppose, I’ve sung these words, over and over again, nearly every December of my life, without really considering their meaning.

At a party the evening of my ordination a four year old friend stood by my side helping me unwrap gifts. We’d undo the wrapping paper and he would exclaim, “It’s a box!”. We’d open the box to see what was inside (the adults would ooo and ahh their surprise and approval). Then we’d move on to unwrap the next package. Again he would exclaim, “It’s a box!”