Hope is an endangered virtue in today's chaotic world. Yet Christmas provides us with the inspiring reminder that our true hope lies not in the understanding that people can sometimes be good, but that God, who is good, is also faithful and loves us in our unloveliness and graces us in our gracelessness.

In a unique guide for Christian travelers, Scott Mages marries the fascinating story of the figures that surround the infant Jesus in that inescapable seasonal tableau of shepherds and wise men, as told through the bible, folk tales, and art, with reflections on the enduring meanings of each. While addressing Christian curiosities like why so many manger scenes display Joseph with staff and lantern and where in the scripture we can find the ox and ass who preceded Mary in artists' renditions, Mages leads others through the history of the figures of the cr