Why the manger is not a quaint scene

"When God chooses Mary as the instrument,
when God wants to enter this world in the manger in Bethlehem,
this is not an idyllic family occasion, 
but rather the beginning of a complete reversal,
a new ordering of all things on this earth." -Dietrich Bonhoeffer

So the manger isn't such a quaint scene after all. It is a picture of the beginnings of a very quiet revolution -- an undermining of everything considered normal in circles of human competitiveness, where people climb over each other in order to "succeed." To everything that represents the old world order, the manger means danger.

May we live in the "complete reversal" and the "new ordering of things" this Christmas weekend and in the coming year!

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