“You’ll never walk again.”
Ordinarily I would begin by asking, “What does this story have to do with today’s Advent theme, which is joy?” But I think Chuck answered that question for us.
A formerly strong, hardworking man has an accident that leaves him trapped in a body that no longer works properly—and Jesus sets him free from that bondage. That accident isn’t somehow the consequence of his sins—but Jesus also sets him free from bondage to sin.
“Silent Night”
Years ago I helped plan a workshop on church accessibility presented by the council of churches in Portland. One thing we included was a program developed by the Catholic archdiocese there. It was called “Welcome to My World,” and it was intended to help us who are able-bodied (temporarily, as the disabled folks who helped us organize the workshop liked to point out) understand what it’s like to live with various disabilities.
“I know he can save me.”
You may or may not agree with me on this: I am not dreaming of a white Christmas.
Frankly, given all the traveling, all the special stuff going on, the extra church services, and so on, I find snow at Christmas time to be a complete nuisance. (We won’t even get into the question of ice storms on Christmas; I’ve been through that, too, and it takes “nuisance” to a whole new level.) So I hope we don’t have a white Christmas.