Spiritual disciplines are small, human things we practice today so that tomorrow we might become more Christlike. They are intentional ways of placing ourselves where we can become more aware of God—at specific times, in specific places, often with specific people.

The glory of God does not pull people away from earth. It sends them deeper into it. The angels are not the Good News, they are heralds of this Good News. The real sign of God doing a new thing is not in the sky but in a manger. Spacious faith, at least as Luke presents it, holds together heaven’s song and the stench of animals, angels and exhausted parents, cosmic promise and everyday need.