Advent and Christmas

Every year, I have this challenge to enter into the joy of the season, to prepare to celebrate Christ's incarnation, to catch the Christmas spirit. And every year, my calendar, the liturgies, the demands of the household, tension around a teenage daughter (as though that doesn't happen all year 'round), and, this year, the funeral of a dear friend, all conspired to suck the pleasure right out of everything.

I was so frustrated that I actually bared my soul during the Christmas Eve sermon -- I preached on being the "custodian of a myth." Most people didn't get it, some people were appalled that I'd dare talk about Christ as a concept, some thought I was having a crisis of faith, and for the five people that actually thought about how the story of Jesus and the proclamation of the Incarnate G-d are intimately linked and synergistic, may you know the blessings that come from that realization.

And to top it off, I have blood in my urine. Can you say "kidney stone?"

Today's weigh-in: 237 lbs. It sucks to be me.