Christmas Eve

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all,” Titus 2:11

on that night, as the world
held its breath between
what had been and what might be,
God arrived not with all the answers
but arms tiny enough to hold us all.
no pronouncements thundered
from the star-filled sky,
just songs of love swaddled
in tender vulnerability,
the sound of a heartbeat
learning time’s new language.
tonight, as the world
holds its breath between
the shouts of anger and fear
and the almost-too-soft prayers
of children longing for hope,
come into the rooms of grace
immigrants offered by strangers,
come into those neighborhoods
waiting to greet redemption that
is offered in weakness, not unbridled power.
come to where our trust
is as fragile is spun sugar,
where our grace is as tenacious
as a parent determined to make it
to the pageant in which
their child plays the first lobster.
come,
close enough
so we can cradle you,
silent enough
to be heard over those
who tell us it is foolish to hope,
your light
shining in every night
the world holds its breath.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 24th

“But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. “ Matthew 1:20

up in that place where
dreams billow and curl,
in the tiny sliver of time
between sleep and waking,
you tiptoe in—
not with heavy boots
but in bunny slippers,
leaning over to calm
a heart thumping in fear.
Joseph is staring at the ceiling
thinking about walking away,
of taking the road less traveled,
when you tap him
on the shoulder
gently whispering
‘do not be afraid.’
because you have no fear
trusting your hope
to this man who sits
in the shadows of worry,
to a child borne by love,
to a name that promises
you are as close as a breath.
so, in our shadow-filled nights,
catch us off-guard—
while we are half asleep,
our doubts daring us
to turn tail and run—
teaching us to wake up
knowing you are already
with us.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 23rd

“So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.” Matthew 1:17

are you serious
or just delirious, God?
the powerful who let
their privilege seduce them,
those whose names simply
slid into the dust of forgetfulness?
the generations who were
so skilled at remembering you
and those whose promises
to the poor kept being lost?
those who thought the prophets
were simply blowing smoke,
and those who struggled to hear
God’s voice in the silence of exile
and whose prayers seemed like
letters returned unopened?
these are the ones whose DNA
crafts the soul of the One those
42 generations had longed to see?
yet
this is how the story goes—
step by step
name by name
mistake by mistake
ordinary life by ordinary life
until love takes that first breath
in a family tree whose branches
are invited to make room
for grace to grow.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 22nd

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?” Galatians 3:1a

there in the shadows, Advent
whispers pointed questions to us—
why do you rush past grace,
recycle wonder into worry,
forget that hope which came
and found us when we were
empty hearted and open to change?
it is like that odd moment just at
the edge of our memories, as
we watched the Star growing brighter
and we dared to believe before we ever saw.
but now
we measure, we codify,
we craft theology, memorize doctrine,
as if we can control God’s quirky
ways of doing things, of choosing people.
Advent is not a new language to learn
but a refresher course
from faith’s kindergarten—
there is a baby, who still shows up,
there is a death, which demands its due,
there is a love which stuns us,
there is grace which arrives
when we are not ready.
so, as we take slower steps
and loosen the tight grip on our hearts,
let us remember that no one
has bewitched us but ourselves,
as we foolishly cast spells
of fear, hubris, and power which
blinded us to the One who began
this work in us and is not finished.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 21st

“But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’” Matthew 1:20

God, those pesky angels
keep showing up at the
most inconvenient times.
we lay out the long-range
plans for retirement, and bam!
one shows up and says,
pack up everything and move
where you don’t know anyone.
and every time one of them
appears to someone
they trot out the company line,
“hey, don’t worry . . .
there’s nothing to be afraid of,’
which usually means ones
world is going to be turned
inside out and just get over it.
and you wonder why
we have so much trouble
falling asleep at night.
but before we make that foolish resolution
to stay awake the rest of our lives,
remind us that you whisper
in our sleep, so that we can carry
grace into the daylight.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 20th

"For he delivers the needy when they call,
    the poor and those who have no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
    and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
    and precious is their blood in his sight." Psalm 72:12-14

we long to hear the footfalls
of compassion from those
in power in our time, but they
stomp around in their hubris and might.
so as we wait in this waiting time,
come
to those small places where cries
slip through the cracks of our apathy.
come
to the ones whose backup plan is simply hope,
to children who learn to offer their fears
in prayer before they can give thanks,
to the exhausted who feast of loneliness.
come,
not because they are so needy
but because they are so loved by you.
come,
because your sole role in life
is to carry the broken,
to unclench fists of violence,
to restore those we write off.
come,
because every life is treasured
every breath is sacred
every brokenness is cradled.
come,
so we might wait
not with closed souls and hands
but with open eyes and hearts,
so we might see justice
wrapped around a refugee baby,
discover love walking our neighborhoods,
hear hope crying out,
and we might be the answer.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

December 19th

“On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
   Do not fear, O Zion;
   not let your hands grow weak.” Zephaniah 3:16

“do not fear”—
how many ways,
how many times
have you encouraged us,
dear, dear God,
not as an order to be obeyed
but a whispered promise
into our trembling lives
in this season when our legs
lock up from waiting so long,
we teach our hearts that
ancient language of caution
to which you respond not with words,
but music hummed in our ears.
for this is not a season
for fixing everything. Advent
simply arrives and then stays
right there in the middle
of all our fears, refusing to leave
so we might realize that hope
is holding our weakening grip,
that you are not looking
from a galaxy far, far away
but here, in those elbows
we bump in the stores,
there in the wide eyes
of excited children,
there in that future we have
already plotted out so carefully,
and rewriting it with your
faithfulness.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom Shuman

December 18th

“He brought me out into a broad place;
    he delivered me, because he delighted in me” Psalm 18:19

we can see it now,
God who does cartwheels
whenever you see us—
that rich meadow where
we can sing and dance,
feast and frolic
to our heart’s content
simply because of who we are.
so help us to recover
from the whiplash to our souls
when we see you walking
straight past our privilege,
to enter the shadowed alleys
of despair because you delight
in the panhandlers we avoid,
when you rejoice in the
asylum seekers because they
gladden your heart with that
gritty tenacity to find hope,
when you are beguiled by all
who turn their back on the world’s
siren call to become influencers
but who birth you in their lives
of service, love, justice, and peace
just like on that night so long ago.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman