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December 2015

December 24, 2015

My Christmas Pageant Moment

This post was originally published on the Episcopal Café web site on January 21, 2010, and has...

December 04, 2015

Hope is the Hard and Necessary Work of Advent

Practicing Advent hope in the face of hopelessness is the fundamental—sometimes hardest—work God has given...

December 23, 2014

Is There a Right Way to Celebrate Christmas?

Christmas. It's such a mixed bag, isn't it? I'm an unapologetic lover of all things...

December 19, 2014

Let’s Stop Bashing These Christmas Traditions

I’m all for trashing traditions that give us only glitz, gluttony, and maxed-out credit cards....

December 16, 2014

How Much is Too Much for Holiday Giving to Kids?

Three perspectives on why holiday gifts and giving traditions need to be thoughtful, meaningful, and...

December 08, 2014

All Good Things (& Christmas Trees) Come to An End

The sight of a Christmas tree strapped onto a car roof awakens all kinds of...

December 03, 2014

On Doing Advent Wrong (or Maybe, Just Right)

Christmas is about the material illuminating the immaterial, about intangible spiritual truths being revealed through...

January 2014

January 06, 2014

Christmas Lasts for Twelve Days, Not One

As I wrote last year, I mourn the commercialization and hype of Christmas less than...

December 2013

December 23, 2013

God with Us, Even When Christmas Stinks

Many things can get in the way of the happy, sparkling Christmas celebrations to which...

December 18, 2013

A Busy Advent Doesn’t Make You a Bad Christian

When she was only two days old, my firstborn was the subject of an Advent...

January 2013

January 10, 2013

“You Made Me Happy, Mom”: Christmas 2012

I take Christmas gifts for my children very seriously, keeping a running list on my...

December 2012

December 24, 2012

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (Including Me)

According to the Mayans, the world was supposed to end on Friday. It didn't. But...

December 12, 2012

Preparing a Way for God to Enter Our Busy Advent World

My Advent posts this year have centered on a single theme—that honoring Advent does not...

December 06, 2012

Can the Christmas Rush Be Meaningful?

I have a post up over at Relevant Magazine today, contemplating Advent, Christmas preparation, busyness,...

December 04, 2012

Busy Hands, Quiet Heart: Thoughts On Advent

Confession: Every time I come across advice from a fellow Christian urging us to slow...

November 2012

November 27, 2012

What the Real St. Nicholas Teaches Us About Gift Giving

When I picked up Adam C. English's new book, The Saint Who Would be Santa...

November 26, 2012

A Proposal for a Longer Christmas Season…In the OTHER Direction

In addition to the oft-bemoaned retail practice of filling shelves with Christmas goods as soon...

December 2011

December 23, 2011

Learning to Love the Christmas Pageant

It's nearly here—Christmas Eve. Dozens of cookies are stacked on my back porch, most of...

December 22, 2011

My Christmas Do’s and Don’ts

Because I’ve used a lot of virtual ink over the past few weeks defending my...

December 21, 2011

A Little Child Shall Lead Us

In last week’s episode of the ABC family comedy The Middle, Frankie (the mom) decides...

December 20, 2011

Blessed Are the Christmas-Makers

I've noticed a movement afoot among Christians to take back Christmas. No, I’m not talking...