The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas by Ann Voskamp Page B

manger with nothing; there are only the manger tramps, the men who lay down all the self-made, the women who lay down all the self-sufficiency, the children who lay down all the wants. We, the manger tramps, who kneel where thrones tremble and demons fall and the self-made crumble and the self-righteous weep.
    Tonight there are only the manger tramps, who tramp in with all our poverty of spirit . . . so there can be an abundance of God.
    And the bulk of all your worn shreds slip off the weariness of your back.
    You have tried to polish enough for Him with these rags. You have tried to patch together so much for Him. You have tried to produce too much for Him with these rags.
    And you —we —who are the manger tramps see it tonight, what He’s written in red on all our filthy rags: But I did it for love.
    All of conquered heaven and grateful earth echo and throb tonight with the heart cry of the God-Child: I did it for love.
    What can all the manger tramps do but wrap the vulnerable God in strips of our bare, broken hearts so He can lodge in the intimacy of us?
    The greatest Gift laid into our empty hands. . . .
    Grace is weightless.
    Even the winning stars singing it over the manger tramps tonight.

    Put on your shoes and go for a walk today. Sing a Christmas carol out loud. Go into all of the world and tell one person about the greatest Gift and how He loves.

    Christmas is fast approaching. And now that Christ has aroused our seasonal expectations, he’ll soon fulfill them all!
    SAINT AUGUSTINE

    What do you need to lay down so your hands will be open to receive God’s Gift?
    How does it change Christmas for you to know that Jesus did it for love?
    Take a moment to kneel close at the manger, thanking God for His abundance.

The Savior —yes, the Messiah, the Lord —has been born today!
    LUKE 2:11

    “The Savior —yes, the Messiah, the Lord —has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
    Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others —the armies of heaven —praising God and saying,
         “Glory to God in highest heaven,
              and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” . . .
    [The shepherds] hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.
    LUKE 2:11-19
    The heavens dome different this day, the light all different.
    The glory’s rising —glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth, because God has left the glory of the galaxies and come down to our depths.
    God is here! God is here! Christ is born to you , to you ! The glad tidings are to you , to you !
    It’s like you can hear the beating of angel wings over Bethlehem —a whole vast host —as if the sky lifts with a light that isn’t of the sun or of the stars or of this world.
    Angels leaned in near the mystery so large that has become the Babe so small, and they caught Light, like catching fire.
    One star hovered too close to the infinite God-become-infant and combusted bright.
    And the flame of it all grazed the shepherds up on the hills, and they blazed, full of wonder, to the source —to the stable where the star seemed dim in the incarnated brilliance of the Light of the World.
    God, divine Light, tabernacles Himself in skin and lights the darkness of men.
    Jesus left the starry heavens to save us from our sins.
    This day, this night —this is the time of the awed silence.
    Now, a thousand thousand trees dance with light.
    Now, a thousand thousand gifts carry love.
    Now, at the foot of every tree, we are all only recipients of grace.
    Christ, who called all