The season will be full of stories, of family and friends, of Christmases long ago, of memories and hopes and half forgotten days gone by. And in the midst of them, we must take care that we do not neglect the telling of the story. We must be present to its telling, if we hope for it to touch our hearts. We are the ones who must ponder in our hearts what all of this has to teach us about the Story of us all.

It will be up to us to leave our flocks unattended for a while. It will fall to us to manage our time and our energy and our calendars and our schedules. We are the ones who must make sure that there is a place and the time to be silent and thoughtful, to rest and contemplate. We are the ones who must seek out the time to prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of the Night of the Child.

-Night of the Child by Robery Benson