Christmas Contrasts: Poems That Explore Different Ways to Understand Christmas - Hardcover

by S. T. Kimbrough (Author), C. Michael Hawn (Foreword by)

Is it possible to understand Christmas more meaningfully through the contrasts that it creates and we create? While some contrasts of Christmas are troubling, others are comforting. The poems in this book juxtapose some of these. There are contrasts of the past and present, contrasts within past and present time, contrasts of wealth and poverty, etc. They evoke vivid images, many of which we know well. Some are pleasant and others are disturbing. How do we deal with the reality of many of these contrasts that emphasize our failure to grasp the meaning of Christmas in such a way that we live out the message of peace and goodwill? The Advent and Christmas seasons are seasons of hope and failure. The hope of peace and goodwill inaugurated in the birth of the Christ Child is contrasted with the failure of his followers to realize the peace and goodwill of which the angels sing. How does a careful look at the contrasts of Christmas help us better understand its meaning and how its meaning can be fulfilled in us? These poems explore this question and offer some helpful and timely responses.

Author Biography

S T Kimbrough, Jr. holds a PhD from Princeton Theological Seminary and is currently a research fellow of the Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition at Duke Divinity School. He has taught on leading theological faculties in Europe (Bonn University, Germany) and the USA (Princeton, New Brunswick, Wesley [Washington, DC], and Drew University). He has published numerous books with Wipf and Stock including The Lyrical Theology of Charles Wesley; Radical Grace: Justice for the Poor and Marginalized; Partakers of the Life Divine; and over a dozen books of poetry.