Among the Bent and Unlikely

Would you rather hear a true story or one I’ve made up?

True story: While camping with friends near the beach, I found an orange floating in the Pacific Ocean. Its skin glimmered and looked fully intact, so I began to peel the orange which tasted perfectly juicy, not a bit salty. My friends laughed and said I was brave and carefree for eating the orange. I cherished their reaction because, during those college days, I wanted to be both courageous and confident despite feeling regularly timid and anxious.

I survived eating a mysterious orange—that surprisingly was not waterlogged—and wondered later, did the orange fall off a cruise boat, or escape from a picnic basket, rolling into the sea?

I also survived bouts of worry and insecurity, and not just during college.

If I were to write about a person overcoming anxiety, or a person overcoming a huge obstacle and emerging for the better, would you be more compelled to hear a true story or a fictional one?

I bought some California oranges at Trader Joes last weekend on a trip to Wisconsin. I traveled east to buy oranges that came from the West, and these oranges, as you can see from the picture, were sold with their stems and leaves attached.

On Sunday the leaves were perky and glossy. A few days later, the leaves bent, and the oranges looked less appetizing—although they are still delicious. Same with stories. Narratives may appear better when glossy and spruced up, but among the bent and unlikely is where most stories unfold.

True story: A dazzling star emerged over the tiny village of Bethlehem. God the Son, taking on flesh as Jesus, was to visit here—now—born in a meek and dingy stable. Starlight illuminated not a spruced-up Christmas village, but rather, images of frail humanity. And humanity would be touched forever, lifted from shame, gifted royalty through Jesus, the Light of the World.

The ages-ago story continues to compel, illuminating frail humanity as restored to their Creator—here—now—for you and me both this December.

Fun fact: Oranges were once likened to gold at Christmastime a few centuries ago. In cold terrain, regions where citrus did not grow, an orange in your stocking meant you’d been gifted something of rare value.