I hope you have enjoyed this Advent, and the beauty of the coming of the Christ child. Matthew and Luke give us nativity narratives with wise men and shepherds. Matthew and Luke also tell us about Herod. Make no mistake, times were brutal and oppressive when Christ became the Word incarnate. Stories about the birth of a special precious baby - any precious baby - give us great joy, but we are poignantly reminded in Matthew's gospel that God came to us in the midst of great suffering in his account of the Slaughter of the Innocents: "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more."
If Jesus saves, which is the meaning of his name, why do children suffer and die, and mothers and fathers weep? Consider The Rev. Pam Fickenscher's "Remembering Rachel: The Slaughter of the Innocents," and, after 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing of the federal building, the unabomber, Colorado, Connecticut, the Boston Marathon, and countless other shootings, The Rev. Dr. James E. Lampkin invites us to "The New Normal." In the midst of storms, what is our hope? Our consolation? Our salvation?
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