We are made new when we dare to go home by another way. This reality has ancient roots. The stories of the season are about people who were made new by taking a different road home. Mary visited Elizabeth and remained there three months. She went home by another way. After saying earlier, "Do with me as you will," before God, and after singing her song of praise to God, she went home a different way.

Bethlehem is a place from which, once you've been there, you cannot go home the same way. The shepherds may have taken the same road there, but the way home was different. The Magi were warned in a dream to "leave by another route." Joseph and Mary would be warned also in a dream to head to Egypt by a circuitous route. The road to Bethlehem and the road from Bethlehem are never the same. You c…