What's the image that comes to mind when I say the words 'Homeless person?'

Probably not great -

But to make sense of Jesus is to make sense of him as a homeless person.

He was born in a borrowed stable - homeless.

He fled violence to live as a refugee in Egypt - homeless.

He described his day to day life as the Son of Man 'having nowhere to lay his head' - homeless

And he died rejected, betrayed, and buried inside a borrowed tomb - homeless.

This is not to say Jesus was an addict, mentally unstable, or even without access to wealth and other resources that might come to mind when we think of contemporary homelessness.

It is to say that Jesus was not overly interested in those things - he did not find his home in wealth, security, or popularity, rather he found his grounding in his unshakable faith in the power of love.

God is love after all, and to put your faith in the possibility that recognizing, cultivating, and expressing love, as the ground of your being, will ultimately take care of you, seems to be a notion Jesus put a lot of stock in.

As Christmas Day approaches, and we look upon that little baby born in a manger, let us be mindful of Jesus's style of homelessness, that was not about preventing it by building palaces, reputations, or savings accounts, but about embracing it by an absolutely obsessing over love - recognizing it, cultivating it - marinating in it.

And let us see the wisdom in that: is your 2026 list of goals all about buying this and achieving that - instead of being that person or that person - being kind, being selfless, and being loving - which is where Jesus' goals were.

And let us see the wisdom in that, put acquisition in its place, and embrace and cultivate, instead, the ground of our being, and the center of our souls, which is to love.