My wife Karen and I were asked to play Joseph and Mary in our Church’s Christmas Musical. We dressed in period-appropriate garb, robes, sandals, etc., and carried the "Baby Jesus" doll wrapped in a blanket to the manger. We did all this while singing, “Silent Night” with our choir. In the dress rehearsal, all went well…that is until my wife bent down to lay baby Jesus in the manger. You see there was a loose strand on Karen’s headdress which caught on the splintered edge of the manger. Therefore, when she stood-up after laying the baby down, the strand pulled the manger violently such that it rocked with tidal wave force and threw "Jesus" straight up into the air. He bounced off the edge of

I was visiting a patient who was actively dying. She was somewhat unresponsive but still aware of what we were saying an doing around her. I spoke kindly to her, prayed for her, and when I was leaving, I kissed her on the forehead. As soon as I did it, I felt at risk. She obviously had a fever. Within a few hours I was sick, weak and about to spend several days in bed. She likely had a virus which was incidental to her terminal illness. Looking back on this, I don't regret kissing her goodbye. It was the right thing to do. The few days of illness I suffered were worth the loving send-off I was able to give her. I think that there are times in life where we not only take a calculated risk, bu