In Auden's Christmas oratorio, "For the Time Being," it is King Herod, a thoroughly reasonable and ultimately practical person, who prays for a God he can recognize on sight, one who is not the least bit extraordinary, someone like himself. Is that what we want, too? This is precisely the One whom John the Baptist will not produce. John stands there for eternity, interrupting our carefully planned Christmases with his thought-provoking announcement: "Among you stands one whom you do not know." You see, we handle the treasures of Christmas with such familiarity and casualness that we're likely to forget that the coming of the Messiah, the Promised Redeemer of God, Emmanuel, is always clothed in mystery. The One who is present to us is always the One who is hidden from us.