Over the Rhine's Christmas album takes a quieter approach to Christmas music.
Instead of succumbing to the shop-shop-shop musak of the season, settle back with the crackling warmth of a recommended winter album.
A statement of beliefs fitting for holiday reflection.
On seeking genuine celebration during the holidays.
A meditation on observing (and not observing) holiday traditions.
What to do when sugary musak just doesn?t cut it.
Holiday memories serve as reminders of the best gifts.
A pastor presents a message of Advent hope to a small congregation in the middle of uncertainty.
A family’s storytelling and costuming tradition reveals the disconnect between Christmas and gift giving.
A time of year when families traditionally gathers prompts thoughts about a mother’s identity.
The times, they are a changin’ in my family and yours.
On family gatherings marked by new life and loss.
Embracing mystical experience as a means of understanding the incarnation.
Preparing for the Christmas celebration during Advent by touching, visiting and living.
Some stories are only kind of funny in distant retrospect...
On family rituals as occasions to pass down heirloom memories of joy and sorrow.
All creation is groaning...and someone has to push.
How can our Christmas rituals proclaim good news for sad people?
How a firstborn daughter arrived just in time for Christmas.
Christmas comes in July for Benita Gonzalez and the on-call chaplain.
A call to embrace both joy and sorrow as we remember the birth of Immanuel.
Learning to believe again, via the story of St. Nicholas.
A parent's perspective on the man from the North Pole.
Remembering the Christmas Eve celebrations of childhood.
Remembering terrible gift choices and why thoughtfulness matters.
A few words on a family tradition to help contextualize giving and receiving gifts.
Lars von Trier’s newest film takes on the meaning of ritual at the end of the world.
Reflecting on the films Melancholia and Another Earth as Christmas approaches.
Lessons from a history of accidentally going without.
Remembering the joys and challenges of a small town ritual.