No Room in the Inn – A Brief Reflection
A few years ago, this icon by Kelly Latimer caught my eye and my heart and we bought it. It hangs in our study where we can remember the truth of this holy season.
One Christmas Eve (approximately the year 2000) in Las Vegas where I was stationed with the Air Force my family and I attended a service at one of the local Presbyterian Churches (USA) congregations. Before the beginning of worship a man came into the sanctuary and went up and laid down by the Nativity. He lived on the streets and evidently didn’t “fit in” with the congregation (he would have been welcomed by the members and the pastor of Central Presbyterian in Mobile, AL where we worship and serve the unhoused community and others in need today). Anyhow, back to the Las Vegas church… an usher went up to the front of the sanctuary where the man was and escorted him out of the church. I looked at my wife and son and said, we’re leaving, how could we worship in a sanctuary where Jesus wouldn’t have been welcomed?
Sadly, in 2025 the act of kicking Jesus out of the sanctuary is even more relevant. I see his face in the faces of the victims of the immoral actions of this administration. According to some who claim to follow Jesus, these actions are sanctioned and supported.
So once again, as I did last Christmas, I share Merton’s piece as both a reminder and a warning.
Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it — because he is out of place in it, and yet must be in it — his place is with those others who do not belong, who are rejected because they are regarded as weak; and with those who are discredited, who are denied the status of persons, and are tortured, exterminated. With those for whom there is no room, Christ is present in this world. He is mysteriously present in those for whom there seems to be nothing but the world at its worst. — Raids On the Unspeakable, p. 72-73 and A Thomas Merton Reader, p. 365
Who will you welcome to the Lord’s table? In whose eyes will you see Jesus? Are we, dear reader, willing to do the work of Jesus and the prophet Micah? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)
Pastor Michael Moore's Blog 
This has been such a difficult year of seeing injustices carried out. Our state is reeling from essential funds being cut off. because of a spurious video claiming fraud, that went viral, without evidence at some Somali daycares. Which has led to death threats at the daycares. Making what was already a difficult time, even more difficult, after Trump targeted the entire Somali population in the country, and more specifically in Minnesota.
It kills me and breaks my heart to read the lies that are being spread… like you, I well remember the Somali people coming in as refugees and being sponsored by churches, etc. I also remember the colossal Charlie Foxtrot that was the military operation in Somalia back in 1993. I was in my first assignment and knew airmen who were going to be deployed in 1992 as a part of the humanitarian operation to provide food relief during the famine. The Chief Master Sergeant was so proud that the Airmen were going to be doing something good (he remembered Vietnam all too well).
This has got to be crushing for you, to see what was then and what is now. The soul of America is being crushed.
It is… more so though is my heart breaking for all who sought to make a better life in this country… for those Afghans who supported our military as interpreters… for so many who were promised a new and better life… I no longer recognize the military or the government or the swath of people who have been brainwashed and gleefully carry out the orders of this sorry excuse for an administration
The Great Replacement Theory, was really about replacing anyone who doesn’t look white, who thinks for themselves, and places integrity over money. There was an Ice Agent sitting on the back of a pregnant woman. People started yelling at him that she was pregnant and throwing snowballs at him. Somehow, in the confrontation she got away. I keep wondering about her and her baby and how both of them are. We’re living through a dark time. Dreading what might come from the administration this year, and hoping for some light to break in.
Hoping and praying for that. Hope is my word for the year…
That’s a good word to hold on to.
Hanging on by my fingernails right now 😉
❤️
The “good intentions” of the government sure went to hell in a handcart quickly.