tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14878984.post7542097764297795262..comments2023-09-21T04:12:45.614-05:00Comments on Praying on the Prairie: Born in a Barn Tara Ulrichhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02619365758739247929noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14878984.post-47456869063596393842016-12-28T21:16:48.652-06:002016-12-28T21:16:48.652-06:00True!! True!! Tara Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02619365758739247929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14878984.post-8139064256494011432016-12-28T21:10:14.137-06:002016-12-28T21:10:14.137-06:00oh, I know you know! but my point is it was a tota...oh, I know you know! but my point is it was a totally culturally congruent and completely expected holy ordinary that wouldn't have happened any other way.river songhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01544925349152380920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14878984.post-24936269699464641602016-12-28T20:55:14.297-06:002016-12-28T20:55:14.297-06:00I am at my Dads. Just attended church. We canceled...I am at my Dads. Just attended church. We canceled Christmas morning worship due to a huge storm. I know it was the warmest place to give birth, but the fact is that it was still a barn. Hope you had a blessed Christmas. Hugs to you too! Tara Ulrichhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02619365758739247929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14878984.post-70567790476862112052016-12-24T18:00:46.938-06:002016-12-24T18:00:46.938-06:00Are you at your Dad's for Christmas? Attending...Are you at your Dad's for Christmas? Attending or preaching at your home church? If so, that's cool! I'm still same place, excited for worship this evening (full cover bulletin cover with my grunge Noel design) and Christmas morning. Still feeling optimistic every day... until the sun sets.<br /><br />Related to your advent posts that mention "stench" – which was a fact, or at least minimally quite smelly – we still need to remember the barn / stable would have been the warmest place to give birth, to sleep, or simply to stay. Only the rich and privileged had privies/ latrines separate from the living spaces, so most living quarters didn't smell pleasant, and people didn't bathe on anything like a regular basis—most working-class people never. Although I'm totally with your observation about consternation and disapproval from Joseph's relatives – which made him something of an outcast and refugee – the circumstances of Jesus' birth and childhood were fully within expectations for their artisan socio-economic class. That's part of the outrage of God's incarnation in Jesus: Common, ordinary, everyday, mundane.<br /><br />When you have a little time, try to read some of the late Ken Bailey's cultural-historical observations with his focus on the importance of scriptural context. He grew up in the 20th century middle east, spoke arabic, and his specialty was the world surrounding the new testament canon.<br /><br />Have a wonderful Christmas! I was ready to add "talk to you next year," but 2017 still is a week away. Hugs and hope to you, to me, to the entire world.river songhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01544925349152380920noreply@blogger.com