If I had to pick a word for my 2025, it would be bittersweet.

This is now the 5th time I’m releasing the Christmas Pudding episode - I love it that much!

But this year, it’s hitting a little bit differently.

I’ve always loved this episode because it’s fun and funny and full of laughter. The conversation was a cherished opportunity to connect with a friend from my youth that lives across the world from me.

But in light of our experiences this year, it’s landing a little differently for me.

This year, I found myself tuned in to a note that’s been right there all along, underneath the humor — the tenderness of Robert and Lisa’s memories.

And I’m wondering - How didn’t I hear it before?

The way these traditions didn’t just hold joy for Robert and Lisa, but also the pain of absence and loss?

Like the thestrals in Harry Potter, the truth is, we can’t see what we can’t see.

But sooner or later, the events of life will afford all of us, hopefully, an ever expanding vision.

And here’s that word, bittersweet, again - In a dish, bitterness doesn’t cancel the sweet. Rather, orange zest will balance - more than, it will sharpen and amplify the sugar in a dish, allowing us to taste it more fully.

And so, as life changes us, expands us, and makes us more attuned to other notes, may we not forget the purity, the clarity, the melody of life’s sweetest moments, which are so often found in our traditions.

But with some pain and in some seasons, this is not reasonable or respectful

And in that case, may the bitterness of this broken world point us — as Robert and Lisa do at the end of this episode — to the eternal love of God.

Emmanuel, God with us - So gloriously on display, each and every Christmas.

Listen to Robert and Listen Now

The Christmas Story According to the Gospels of Luke and Matthew

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197 The 5th Annual Christmas Pudding Episode