Weekly Outlook - A grilled cheese parable

Dear Outlook readers,  Walking our dog Huey is an act of patience. He is a big sniffer — and I suppose I am a big indulger of the sniffing. As I waited on Huey's snuffles last week, I noticed a public bus decked out in Disney-themed Christmas decorations. Mickey, Minney and Pluto on a 3D sled adorned the front bike rack, embellished with some extra tinsel, and each window displayed a hand-painted outline of mouse ears in alternating red and green.  The bus made me smile. I thought of the time it took the driver to decorate. Did they come in early for their shift to do the work, or stay late? I wondered if they felt pride driving their decked-out bus, watching fellow passersby for happy recognition and surprised faces. It made me realize that sometimes our smallest choices can be made with the thought of bringing joy to others. What would the world look like if we all thought like this bus driver? One of the reasons Advent is my favorite liturgical season is because it creates space to hold this joy alongside the pain, loss, and anger we experience as a part of being alive. Like Christian Iosso and Dartinia Hull help us to do, there is space to lament all that is broken. As Kelle J. Brown writes, we can take action to change. And we can do these things because we hold onto the truth exposed by Eliza Jaremko's 4-year-old in her grilled cheese parable: we get to live with Jesus. In Christ, Rose Schrott Taylor Outlook digital content editor

Decolonizing Christmas by Kelle J. Brown  Christmas Beatitudes by Christian Iosso  Moving in with Jesus: A grilled cheese parable by Eliza C. Jaremko Preaching to polarized congregations: A responsibility and a challenge, clergy say by Adelle M. Banks In case you missed it... New documentary tells the story of queer religious families in the Midwest The movie profiles queer families and individuals living in the Midwest, grappling with their identity in a conservative and traditional environment. —  Fiona André Reckoning with violence and silence Every Advent, I wonder: What is it like to truly live in peace? — Dartinia Hull Ahead of White House Hanukkah celebration, a wave of faith-led cease-fire demonstrations The demonstrators, who were later arrested, noted the ongoing Jewish holiday, shouting, 'No Hanukkah to celebrate, cease-fire cannot wait!' Unexpected Abundance: The Fruitful Lives of Women Without Children “Women have been fruitful matriarchs for millennia, including those of us who never gave birth,” Elizabeth Felicetti writes in her new book reviewed by Elizabeth B. Dickey. Come alive, O Christ: A Christmas Eve prayer Come alive, O Christ in every broken place so that love fills every gap, writes Jeremy Wilhelmi. The APCU partners with Pittsburgh Theological Seminary to offer post-graduate certificate for college chaplains This will be the first and only post-graduate certification program focused specifically on the distinctive nature of a college chaplain’s work. — Jack Jenkins "Family Christmas Eve Service" by Jenny Lee  FREE for a limited time. Click to download.