Ruins are not what we think of on Christmas. We try to make the day beautiful, the memories bright, the laughter fill the air, but we all have places in our lives that don't fit our pretty little picture and we live in a world that sometimes makes no sense at all. On the grounds of Kell's Priory we stumbled upon construction; rubble sifted neatly into piles with some of the older stones affixed with a thin grey line of cement. Interesting that the local name for the priory was "Seven Castles." We, too, are building a castle, though it is not always fit for a King. As Christmas approaches I wonder if we could sift the rubble in our hearts and souls asking the One who made us and knows us to give us wisdom and grace to work on the reconstruction; if we do not  we may find ourselves tripping on the chaos inside us and in the world around us.

Medicine from Ancient Writing:
"Show forth in your life much gentleness, much purity, for we have a King who beholds all our actions continually."
St. John Chrysostom Homilies on St. John Homily V.4 NPNF1: 14.25