Frederick Buechner's writings never fail to get my mind thinking in new ways. His manner of word crafting often causes me to pause and re-read, re-think and decide for myself. I like that in a writer. Here's an excerpt from him on Christmas that I'd like to share:
"The lovely old carols played and replayed till their effect is like a dentist's drill or a jackhammer, the bathetic banalities of the pulpit and the chilling commercialism of almost everything else, people spending money they can't afford on presents you neither need nor want, "Rudolph, the Red- Nosed Reindeer," the plastic tree, the cornball creche, the Hallmark Virgin.
YET FOR ALL OUR EFFORTS, WE'VE NEVER QUITE MANAGED TO RUIN IT.
That in itself is part of the miracle, a part you can see. Most of the miracle you can't see or don't...The world is the manger. It is only by grace that [we] happen to see this other part of the miracle. Christmas itself is by grace. It could never have survived our own blindness and depredations otherwise. It could never have happened otherwise...
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