We will soon be singing Christmas songs full of joy and goodwill and love and peace. Someone asked some little children what love is and one said, "Love is what you hear in the house at Christmas time if you stop opening presents and listen for a while" (from PreachingToday.com, May 15, 2002). That is important to us, isn't it? That is really the way we want it to be.

But that is not always the way it is. There are estrangement and againstness and hostility in our world and it is especially painful to us at Christmastime. Maybe there is some tension between some people you love, some friends getting a divorce, some members of your family who are in conflict with one another - or maybe one who has separated from the family for some reason. That is always painful but it is especially painfu…