The desire to belong and the experience of being excluded are universal to the human condition. Whether it's picking teams on the school playground, the social group we're not a part of, or the notorious "who's In" and "who's Out" games we all play, we yet deeply desire to be welcomed, to be wanted, and to feel claimed. The walls that separate man, that ultimately separate us from God in that greatest wall of our sin, is crossed by God's Christmas message: that there are no walls around the manger, before which we can all kneel in humility and be claimed by Him. ( notes)