{"id":61187,"date":"2023-12-17T01:26:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T06:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187"},"modified":"2023-12-06T12:28:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T17:28:58","slug":"the-mystery-of-christmas-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/2023\/12\/17\/the-mystery-of-christmas-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Mystery of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p>THE SECRET<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hidden reality<\/p>\n<p>Like life in the womb<\/p>\n<p>Hidden reality<\/p>\n<p>Like death in the tomb<\/p>\n<p>Hidden away<\/p>\n<p>For the appropriate day<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A tale that\u2019s never told,<\/p>\n<p>A trail that\u2019s long gone cold,<\/p>\n<p>A mystery unrevealed,<\/p>\n<p>A truth that is concealed,<\/p>\n<p>Seems useless on first glance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Who said there was a secret,<\/p>\n<p>Who told us we must keep it<\/p>\n<p>Who set the search in motion<\/p>\n<p>And stirred up our devotion<\/p>\n<p>If \u2018clueless\u2019 was our stance?<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Call forth the revelator,<\/p>\n<p>Who hinted something greater<\/p>\n<p>A light that has been hidden<\/p>\n<p>A thought that comes unbidden<\/p>\n<p>And is not mere romance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Go to the old gate keeper,<\/p>\n<p>And wake the guardian sleeper,<\/p>\n<p>Arouse the storyteller<\/p>\n<p>Seek out the boundary dweller<\/p>\n<p>Lulled into tragic trance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For sometimes revelation<\/p>\n<p>Awaits the new creation<\/p>\n<p>Propitious point in time<\/p>\n<p>When insight is sublime<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re prepared to dance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The time may fully come<\/p>\n<p>The race be fully run,<\/p>\n<p>The truth could then be heard,<\/p>\n<p>And taken at its word,<\/p>\n<p>As happy happenstance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thus mystery has a point<\/p>\n<p>When times are out of joint<\/p>\n<p>And no one wants to hear<\/p>\n<p>About the truth they fear<\/p>\n<p>Because of circumstance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In one sense all of history<\/p>\n<p>Apocalyptic mystery<\/p>\n<p>With secrets kept and told<\/p>\n<p>By prophets young or old<\/p>\n<p>Who speak, suggest, recant.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For too much information<\/p>\n<p>Obscures the revelation<\/p>\n<p>Prevents a clear reception<\/p>\n<p>May even cause deception<\/p>\n<p>Instead of some advance.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So let us treasure mystery<\/p>\n<p>And truths that unveil history<\/p>\n<p>Spoken in due season<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting divine reason,<\/p>\n<p>And never left to chance.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>THE SECRET \u00a0 Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day \u00a0 A tale that\u2019s never told, A trail that\u2019s long gone cold, A mystery unrevealed, A truth that is concealed, Seems useless on first glance. \u00a0 Who said there was a secret, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":61133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14009],"class_list":["post-61187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-is-all-of-history-just-an-unsolved-mystery"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Mystery of Christmas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Mystery of Christmas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-17T06:26:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-06T17:28:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/12\/thumbnail_20231120_144905.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187\",\"name\":\"The Mystery of Christmas\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-12-17T06:26:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-06T17:28:58+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\"},\"description\":\"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Mystery of Christmas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/\",\"name\":\"The Bible and Culture\",\"description\":\"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b\",\"name\":\"Ben Witherington\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ben Witherington\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Mystery of Christmas","description":"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Mystery of Christmas","og_description":"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2023-12-17T06:26:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-06T17:28:58+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":640,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/55\/2023\/12\/thumbnail_20231120_144905.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Ben Witherington","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187","name":"The Mystery of Christmas","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-12-17T06:26:13+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-06T17:28:58+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b"},"description":"THE SECRET &nbsp; Hidden reality Like life in the womb Hidden reality Like death in the tomb Hidden away For the appropriate day &nbsp; A tale that\u2019s","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?p=61187#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Mystery of Christmas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"A One-Stop Shop for All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/67da39aff728f9d015878d198839df4b","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8cf1998568f0b6ccbd63f56b44d47303?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/author\/benw333\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}