We just saw the Nativity.  I think it was better than the Passion.  Very moving.  And of course as I watched I was thinking of the kids in the streets.  There were some parallels.   No room for Jesus to be born.  He had to be born in a stable.  The stable has taken on a whole new meaning with the sewers.  There is no room for these kids either and so they will spend their Christmas Eve in a dark, smelly, trash ridden concrete room below the streets.  

Here He goes again.  Jesus in the worst of it.  Sleeping in a smelly place where no one else would.  I wonder what you saw when you looked into the baby's eyes?  I know what I see when I look into His eyes today.  There is this questioning.  The kids have aged beyond their years.  There is this combination of, "You're not going to do anything - are you" and "Do you love me?"

So, in several weeks we will be there with them again.  John, the beloved disciple (my son-in-law), and me (Michael with a message).   We will hold the hand of Nastya in the hospital and tell her today is the day of her salvation...and that good news has come.   We will light a candle in dark places and sing joy with those who knew none under a heavy regime. 

In a few weeks we will celebrate the birth of one who was loved and was rejected with those of kindred spirit.