We are at that stage with my toddler's speech development where he knows very clearly what he is trying to communicate. However, his pronunciation of words continues to baffle us. This weekend we had a flurry of seasonal fun and at one point he was insisting to look at my phone at photos. "Pictures!" "Me!" And then, what I thought was his attempt at "Santa Claus." So I proceeded to show my little darling elf photos of himself with the jolly ole' fellow. Yet, he grew madder and madder. Stomping his little feet and clearly becoming so frustrated with his ignorant mother as he pushed the phone away. (That was a first for this #screentimegeneration.) Finally, he reached out and held both my cheeks between his chubby little hands and slowly and emphatically articulated: "Monkey. Oooh! Oooh! Oooh!"

CURIOUS GEORGE! He wanted to see Curious George! NOT Santa Claus.

One might wonder if our Loving Heavenly Parent spent generations and generations trying to communicate with the world. But as clearly as love and grace and salvation were articulated through creation and the prophets and prophetesses of old, humanity remained baffled. So at last, God came down to embody the chubby little hands of a baby boy who, as he grew up in his ordinary life as the son of a carpenter, undoubtedly became frustrated with the ignorance of a world that thought we knew the answers to what he proclaimed. But instead of growing madder and madder and stomping his feet (minus that time in the Temple with the money-changers!), he holds our cheeks between his loving hands and slowly and emphatically articulates: "Hope. Peace. Joy. Love."

Hope to see you and your children who teach us the best lessons of faith this week as we continue to retell the story of Emmanuel - God with us -- until we all finally understand!

Grace and Peace,
Rev. Susan Pinson