Christmas is the celebration of a birth. But a Christmas Jesus is a clean baby wrapped up in cloths, not a sticky one emerging from Mary’s body. Why is that? Is it our discomfort with our bodies, and in particular, women’s bodies (trans or cis)? The strangeness of the incarnation, this mixing of divine and human, that we don’t want to recognize? I’m not entirely sure. But I know that this Christmas, I want to see birth. I want to see a woman’s body intermingled with the divine. I want to see a record of the pain that comes before the joy.

I often wonder what a different Christmas might be like, what Christmas in Asia -- in Persia, India, or China might have been like towards the end of the first millennium, when the early church in Asia had been active. How much of our understanding might be a relic of missionary and colonial history? How else have others understood the Incarnation in the past, and how might we broaden our horizons today?

Growing up in a Chinese evangelical-ish church, kneeling was taboo unless it was to God. At my grandma’s funeral, our family had even been excused from the traditional Buddhist prostrations before her casket. Yet here is my art history teacher, already getting on his knees before the painting of Mary inside Cavalletti Chapel.

Editor's note: We are sharing the following transcript from the Progressive Asian American Christian 2019 Conference's evening plenary message. We are delighted that we are able to share this message from Pastor Vicki Flippin with our Diverging and PAAC communities.

Consider the sacred role of desire in worship. Imagine what an abundant life-- a life you desire-- looks like, feels like, tastes like. This is an invitation to reflect on and seek rest in the promise that abundant life is in fact Love's own desire for you.