Radar magazine isn't my only unsolicited subscription. (Perhaps I have a multiple personality who loves to receive mail. Or maybe I just have a tendency to sign up for things and forget. Not sure.)

Whatever the reason, I also receive periodic emails from Dan Gilliam, a musician, artist and author who recently published God Touches with Standard. Last week the email included an excerpt from his new project, a still-in-process book entitled The Journals of Jesus. Here's a paragraph I particularly liked:

I can't remember. I know I am supposed to know something but I cannot remember what. There was something before now, something very significant, something supernatural.......I feel ancient in this youthful, 30 year old, frame--ancient as the desert, ancient as the moon, older than the mountains and the seas. In my body I am young. But in my spirit, in my mind, I am very old. I am old. I Am.

The Bible doesn't say exactly when Jesus became aware of his identity and calling, but I've always thought God probably revealed it to him a piece at a time, over time. As always, the incarnation surprises and fascinates me, and I love Dan's interpretation.

Target's been selling wrapping paper and artificial trees for weeks already, but this thought kicked off my own celebration of Christmas.