The manger captivated me as a child. Why did I connect so strongly with a simple wooden object, the first bed for the Son of God?
All my life, I have needed a sign to know that there was something more. Something more than the fear and violence always waiting to be unleashed in my childhood home.
All my life, I have hungered for a kind of assurance; a positive declaration intended to give confidence; a promise that everything—every single thing, not just some things sometimes—would one day be better. The manger was my sign of assurance—an affirmation and guarantee.
You see, the manger is more than a cradle for Baby Jesus. It is a cradle of hope and endurance for all God’s children.
This message is an excerpt of “This wobbly manger” by Venice R. Williams in the December 2018 issue of Gather magazine. Today is the Fourth Sunday of Advent.
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