Patrick Oden, in his reflection "A Way in a Manger", reminds us that incarnation (God-in-the-flesh) is a messy business, and that the scandal of the incarnation is that God would choose to come as a human - a fully human human.

[When things are messy or frustrating], that’s precisely the place where God enters in, joining with us, bringing life and hope. When it is messy, when it is loud, when everything seems out of hand, God is with us, incarnated among us, joining together in our struggles right when they seem the most overwhelming. We don’t ignore the struggles. We look for the God who became a baby in the midst of a messy, awkward, frustrating manger. Because we know this incarnation means all things are made new.