A (not so) beautiful Christmas story

I don't mean to rain on any one's Christmas celebration. But if this blog is about my true thoughts here is where I am tonight........thinking about children.

Children in Ohio hoping for forever families......

Children in Ecuador living in abject poverty, yet hoping for just a little something for Christmas.....

Children in Tanzania who are HIV positive hoping to live one more day........

The one million children who will not put their head on a pillow tonight or have a mattress to lay on, and who have stopped hoping for anything............

The 30,000 children who started their day 23 hours ago and who are no longer on this earth because of hunger or diarrhea........

And all this made me think of the part of the Christmas story that gets overlooked. It's in Matthew 2:16 and it's not a very happy verse:

"When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi." (NIV)

I've read research that has estimated the number of deaths that night to be anywhere from 20 to 1,000. No matter how many there were hope was snuffed out. And that is what poverty does more than anything. It snuffs out hope.

Hope..............it's my favorite word. It sounds even better in Spanish:

ESPERANZA

Jesus, thank you for coming to earth. My HOPE is in you.