The promise of Christmas includes work still to be done

Amid ever-rising coronavirus cases, and a bitter and corrosive political climate, what better time for the inspiring Christmas message of the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church? “The story of a baby born is the story of beauty, a story of hope,” he wrote, “whereas the Jewish tradition says every child who is born is a reminder that God is not finished with the world yet.”

Noting the accounts of tyranny and hatred arising from King Herod’s fear of a coming rival to his throne, Curry found an expression of God’s love in the actions of Mary and Joseph to save their baby from destruction.

The context of Jesus’ birth is the story of overcoming a tyrant’s wrath. That biblical setting has a contemporary contexture: Death-dealing covid-19 and a corrosive political life are eating away at our very foundation. Are children born today to suffer the consequences?