I used to miss the proverbial white Christmas, living in San Diego. Having partially recovered after our year in Chicago, I think I am almost completely over it since learning how similar our landscape and climate are to the place where Jesus was actually born. This stops my lamenting the Currier and Ives picture postcard scenes of my childhood. We are not sledding, tobogganing, making fires, or chilly in the least. We are walking on the beach, running up to the hot tub, sporting shorts, sunglasses and flip flops as we choose our tree. It has its pros and cons!
Last year, the San Diego Natural History Museum was the proud host of the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition. The accompanying lectures and interpretive displays placed the scrolls in the context of the geography and biological diversity of Israel, which is very similar to that of Southern California and Baja California. Israel's climate is Mediterranean--no rain during the growing season--and it varies considerably according to distance from the sea. The Holy Land has the Red Sea; we have the Salton Sea. The country is fairly southern, situated at about the same latitude as San Diego, so even top winemakers (if not surfers) seek it out.
Our banner artwork for this digital, month-long advent calendar-esque greeting is decked with beach, desert, and sand-scapes to put you in the mood, anticipating a child born in Bethlehem, a place much like San Diego or Solana Beach or inland El Cajon. Does that give you the urge to come visit us?
The more we understand the Biblical context of Christmas, the more meaningful our celebration.
