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Painting/photo of Jerusalem Temple-Casual English Bible

The Casual Christmas Story

Stephen M. Miller
Kansas City Sunset 12 4 2023. copyright Stephen M. Miller
LIGHTS, CAMERA, POP OUT THE WINDOW SCREEN. So I started typing this post to give you links to the Casual English Bible Christmas story. But then the sky lights up and it changes everything. Interruption. Suddenly I’m a shepherd in Bethlehem, reaching for a camera to take a selfie.

ARE YOU FEELING IT? Christmas?

I am. In my house, the Christmas tree is up. And it’s 4:56 p.m. in the Kansas City suburbs and the sky is “Oh my goodness gorgeous gold.”

What’s happening out there? The sun has slipped behind the roofs and trees.

I’m stopping to look.

I just ran outside to turn on the Christmas lights and I’m laughing. My lights seem so puny compared to the lights God has just turned on in the sky.

Oh my goodness. He’s turning up the juice. I gotta stop and watch.

I put on my other glasses to see at a distance. There’s a darkening golden flame to the sky.

I wish I weren’t in a cul-de-sac. I wish I had an angle to frame that sky.

Holy heaven, it’s getting brighter, richer. Darkening textures of bluish gray, feathering eastward into nothing but gray.  Yet in the west, a rich blue sky and a shelf of golden orange clouds on fire.

Stop and watch. Just watch. Stop typing. Watch.

And then

I can’t just watch.

I whipped out my iPhone to take pictures.

No good. First, it’s an iPhone. Second there’s a glass window and a screen.

I pull the camera bag out of the closet. We’re going Sony now-A7R IV. Good camera. I’m rushing because light like that travels at light speed. I fumble, trying to find the zippers in the bag. “Rats. Rats. Where are you? You’ve never done this before!”

Got it. But the window screen. Nope. Gotta go.

I throw open the window and pop out the screen. There she goes.

And there it is—a terrible angle on a beautiful sky.

And they are, my Christmas blubs against God’s sky on fire.

I’m still laughing. It should make you laugh, too.

Come on. My lights against God’s lights. You’re laughing now, right?

It started here

All I wanted to do was give you links to a video reading of the Casual English Bible’s Christmas story.  I think most folks will like it.

But you get a bonus today: a laugh at my expense, but in recognition of God’s creativity and his might. We have lightbulbs. He has the Light.

And here’s the story. You can watch it on YouTube or on Vimeo.

Cover for video about the birth of Jesus, "Mary's baby boy," from the Casual English Bible

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About Stephen M. Miller

STEPHEN M. MILLER is an award winning bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity and author of the Casual English Bible® paraphrase. His books have sold over two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s and Where’s Where in the Bible.

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