Merry Christmas! It is still Christmas, and perhaps there are some lessons for us from historical Church traditions like Christmastide (the twelve days of Christmas). December 25 was not the end; it is only the beginning. In John’s Gospel, the beginning goes all the way back to before the beginning. That causes us to know and embrace the full identity of Jesus… Emmanuel, God with us, in the flesh. This is the gift of God to know, trust, and share.