New CC content on Mary, John the Baptist, Paul’s adoption metaphors, and more.

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** Which figure in the Nativity are you?
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Alas, I do not have a Buzzfeed quiz for you with 10 easy questions to determine whether you are Joseph, an angel, or one of the Magi. But I do have some new articles that ponder the fascinating characters at the heart of the stories about Jesus’ birth. This sort of pondering is one of my favorite parts of Advent.

Rachel Mann gets real about her struggles with Mary—or perhaps with the dehumanizing ways the church has narrated Mary’s story ([link removed]) through the centuries. Peter Marty reflects on the wilderness setting of John the Baptist ([link removed]) ’s ministry; I must say it is the most viscerally terrifying First Words columns Peter has written (is this Christmas or Halloween?). And though it’s not Advent-related, I am excited to share with you Haley Hudler’s new article, the cover story of our December issue, about the colonialist assumptions undergirding many international closed adoptions ([link removed]) .

Plus more great new content. Scroll down for a poem about childhood grief in Advent ([link removed]) , a podcast episode about “queerly rooting ([link removed]) ,” and more!

Email me: Which Bible character resonates with you during Advent?

Jon Mathieu
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?subject=Re%3A%20Editors%E2%80%99%20Picks)
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My struggle with Mary ([link removed])

“Mary’s humanity has often been eroded away. So many statues and paintings of her are sentimentalized. She is presented as a middle-class simpering White woman dressed in pristine blue robes. In emphasizing her virginity and suggesting that she was sinless, traditional ideas about Mary redact out the facts of her female body.”
by Rachel Mann
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** The eerie call of John the Baptist ([link removed])
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“Although we think of wilderness as being wide open, it can also hem us in and force us to reckon with deep realities.”
by Peter W. Marty
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** Are all Christians adopted? ([link removed])
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“The theological underpinnings of overseas closed adoptions have not often been scrutinized. Even more rarely have the voices of adoptees themselves been heard in these conversations.”
by Haley Hudler
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** In the Lectionary for December 17 (Advent 3B) ([link removed])
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In the wilderness, trying to find joy can be like trying to make a fire with wet matches.
by Katie Kirk

Advent 3B archives ([link removed])
Get even more lectionary resources with Sunday’s Coming Premium, an email newsletter from the editors of the Christian Century. Learn more ([link removed]) .


** Advent ([link removed])
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“Neat in my red scarf, white shirt,
navy skirt for Assembly Day,
I’m the only kid whose grandmother
died last night. I’m pretty sure. . . .”

poem by Diane G. Scholl


** Queering Contemplation, episode 5 (Jes Kast) ([link removed])
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“I am queer just as much as I am woman. It’s my being-ness... It’s the very essence of who I am.”

Cassidy Halls interviews Jes Kast
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