Let us at all costs avoid the temptation to make our Christmas
worship a withdrawal from the stress and sorrow of life into a realm of unreal
beauty. It was into the real world that Christ came, into the city where there
was no room for Him, and into a country where Herod, the murderer of innocents,
was king.

He comes to us not to shield us from the harshness of the
world but to give us the courage and strength to bear it; not to snatch us away
by some miracle from the conflict of life, but to give us peace—His peace – in
our hearts, by which we may be calmly steadfast while the conflict rages, and be
able to bring to the torn world the healing that is peace.— Our Daily
Bread