“Oh, by gosh, by golly,
It’s time for mistletoe and holly.”

This season may be for you, as Dickens wrote, “the best of times.”  You have a job, there’s harmony at home, and you’re in good health.  But sadly for others it’s “the worst of times,” wracked by shattered dreams, plagued by infirmity, with no hope.

Long ago a young couple found themselves in a strange, humanly inexplicable dilemma.  He was a typical, hard-working guy, headed for a bland, anonymous existence in a dusty, backwater village.  His heart belonged to a quiet lass, with child and in her early teens, about to be his bride. Hardly candidates for “The Bachelorette.” No honeymooning at a 5-star resort in the Greek islands.  No, they settled for a manger.

Surely, this was the worst of times.  But their story gets even worse before it rises to heights loftier than even the best of times.  Stay tuned, world!

Where are you in this epic drama?


“Today in the City of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  Luke 2:11,12