Hard to Imagine

“It is impossible to conceive how things would have turned out had that birth not happened…”

–     Frederick Buechner (b. 1926), Presbyterian American author and theologian

And that is why it’s called “Faith.”

This is the time of year when, as easy as it can be to forget, it’s good to remember.

“Close out the year strong!” runs counter to considering, peacefully, how we’d respond if we were the innkeeper.

“Get the budget right!” can cloud the consideration of how we’d handle an unattended birth in a manger.

“No excuses.”  One could argue that this admonishment runs closest to the reminder of the Season.

Whether or not one believes that 2043 years ago, a guy walking alongside his pregnant bride, who was uncomfortably riding through the desert on a donkey, were headed for a town with no room at the inn, and that they would, among the animals in a manger, and without earthly assistance, experience a birth of unimaginable significance, it is a good time of year to consider Faith.

And, whether it is possible to conceive a life without it.