As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, what has been standing out to you during this Advent season? For me, it has been a word. "This." When Jesus arrived in Bethlehem, he was not just the Divine king standing above it all, but he became THIS baby, born in THIS place, with THIS teenage mother, and THIS father, at THIS time in history, visited by THIS group of shepherds. So where do we find God THIS Christmas? Right where we are! Jesus is present to us in THIS moment, as we gather and celebrate with THIS family, in THIS place, THIS Christmas!

To be human is to be situated in a particular time and place and that is exactly where God meets us. As Dallas Willard said, “God has yet to bless anyone except where they actually are.” It is easy to get distracted by all the noise and activities going on around us and miss the gift of being present. Sometimes we nostalgically drift off into Christmas past or get caught up in the idealistic expectations of the perfect Christmas and we miss the gift THIS Christmas offers us. May we receive the invitation to be present to the One who is present to us THIS Christmas.