"For the great and powerful powerful of this world,
there are only two places in which their courage fails them, of which
they are afraid deep down in their souls, from which they shy away.
These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No powerful person
dares to approach the manger, and this even includes King Herod. For
this is where thrones shake, the mighty fall, the prominent perish,
because God is with the lowly. Here the rich come to nothing, because
God is with the poor and hungry, but the rich and satisfied he sends
away empty. Before Mary, the maid, before the manger of Christ, before
God in lowliness, the powerful come to naught; they have no right, no
hope; they are judged."
--From Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas
