“Christmas is the promise that the God who came in history and who comes daily in mystery will one day come in glory. God is saying in Jesus that in the end everything will be all right. Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration, and death; he simply stated that the Kingdom of God would conquer all these powers, that the Father’s love is so expansive that no evil could possibly resist it.” Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins