And speaking of apparent grace, I made this spool man in kindergarten, way back when spools were wooden.  My mom hung it on the Christmas tree every year, and now I hang it on our Christmas tree.  You can see for yourself that it is not all that Christmasey and not all that beautiful.  And yet, it always reminds me of my mom’s love, of all mothers’ love for their children, and of this exhortation in the New Zealand Prayer Book: “Let us accept that we are profoundly loved and need never be afraid.”  May we know this love and may we smile like the spool man as we enter the week ahead…