Advent: The Glory of the Manger

"... he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly." Luke 1:51-52

​"For the great and powerful of this world, there are only two places in which their courage fails them, of which they are afraid deep down in their souls, and from which they shy away.  These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ.  No powerful person dares to approach the manger ...   Before Mary, the maid, before the manger of Christ before God in lowliness, the powerful come to naught; they have no right, no hope; they are judged ...  Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high; whoever looks at the child in the manger and see the glory of God precisely in [God's] lowliness."   -- D. Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger (26)

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