God-Haunted Horror

As I made my way past the window displays and Salvation Army Santas on Fifth Avenue, I happened upon a sign that read “This Holiday Season, Give the Gift of Kindness!” Who wants to wake up to find “kindness” sitting under their tree, I wondered. Of course, the world could always use a little more kindness and good manners. But there was little that could be called respectable or “nice” about Christ’s life on earth. Between being born in abject conditions in a stable and dying a gruesome death, he spent his lifetime clashing with the religious authorities of his day and hanging around prostitutes, lepers, and other social rejects.