One of the best parts of holidays is spending time with family. We come together, eat good food, and enjoy all sorts of fun with one another. No FaceTime; no phone calls. We're together—we're with each other. This is what we call the blessing of bodily presence. This wonderful gift is at the heart of Christmas.

Christmas is a season of great joy, and rightly so. But here's another truth: Christmas can be hard for some people. Maybe Christmas reminds them of sad days in the past. They possibly miss people who are not with them. It may be that they see other families enjoying closeness, but they are lonely. Perhaps Christmas actually ends up bringing more sorrow than normal seasons of life.

We've all been tempted to "upgrade" a story. When asked, "How many fish did you catch?" we may want to add an extra fish or two. When questioned about how many pages we've read for our assignment, we might pad our page count. Sometimes, we want things to sound a little better than they are.

Joseph doesn't have a huge role in many retellings of the Christmas story. He's represented by a figurine in our little plastic manger scenes. However, like that little plastic guy, he doesn't say much, do much, or factor into the story to a strong degree.