"This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger."
	How could a baby be a "Messiah?"
	But this is exactly how God works in the world. Not through the powerful and mighty, but through the weak and lowly. As disciples of the Babe born at Bethlehem, we are being called, as never before, to speak "truth to power" in order that there might be peace on earth.

Dear Friends in Christ,

"This will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger" When the angel announced the birth of the Christ child with these words the shepherds must have wondered: How could a baby be a "Messiah?" How could one born in poverty and surrounded by poverty be "Lord?" How could one who had no power "bring peace on earth?" But we learn from the Christmas story in Luke and throughout all of scripture that this is exactly how God works in the world. Not through the powerful and mighty, but through the weak and lowly.

Let me illustrate with an image from Jim Wallis' new book "God's Politics: A New Vision for Faith and Politics in America." He says in this book that if you go to Washington D.C. to meet with a member of Congress you can tell right away who they are. They are the persons going around Washington with their fingers (usually wet) in the air seeing which way the wind is blowing. Once they find that out, then they decide what they should do. Therefore, he says if you really want to influence members of the congress to act in a different way then change the direction of the wind. He is saying that people in positions of power want to protect their positions, and that means that they will do little to institute change. That is, unless they are driven by a different power.

The Child born in Bethlehem was driven by a different power…. a power that came from his Father. It was the power that would change the world into eternity through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. That power in available to each of us. In the Word we receive that power. In prayer we are connected to that power. In the Eucharist we become that power. I don't think it is any coincidence that the word for "Spirit" in scripture means, "wind." In our Baptism we have been "sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked with the cross of Christ forever." The power to change the direction of the wind has been given to us.

Recently, we watched an outpouring of appreciation for the life of Rosa Parks by our nation. She was not a person of wealth or power, but she was a person who changed the direction of the wind for our nation. Her simple act of disobedience led eventually to the people in positions of power in Washington changing their mind of what was best for our nation. I believe that her act of disobedience was fueled by a greater power working in her. That power is available to each of us as we face the injustices and problems of our lives and our world.

As disciples of the Babe born at Bethlehem we are being called, as never before to speak "truth to power" in order that there might be peace on earth. If there is to be a change in the direction of the wind, it will come from the children, the Rosa Parks, the weak, the lowly who witness to the love of Christ for all people. May we be open to the stirrings of the Spirit in our souls.

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Jim Stuck