Hello America, welcome. It is Eric Erickson here across the fruited plane. The full number is 877973-7-4-25. Should you wish to be on the program? It is an open line Friday, and I'm delighted to have you. As always, text Eric E RICK to 33777. More importantly,

please text donate to 33777. Let's close out Clark's Christmas Kids and get every

foster child in Georgia a Christmas present. And also you can help the persecutor. There's a matching

donation up to $300,000 for those who help that nonprofit.

You can text, donate to 33777. I look, there's news and I should be starting with the news

because I don't like to do just talk. I like to do news talk, but this is my last chance to grab

some of you. Because if you're like me, your kids are, this is probably the last week, maybe you've got

a couple days next week where the kids are in school, then you're on Christmas vacation,

you're tuned out, you're focused on Christmas.

So I got to start with this.

I feel very strongly I need to start with this.

Just let me have your attention for just a moment, please.

Just let me grab you.

You can tune me out after this, but let me just talk to you for a moment.

I actually want to mention the Christmas story to begin with because it's a very messy story.

You got these shepherds in the field by night, tending their sheep, and a group of angels

scare the bejesus out of them to tell them the baby Jesus is here.

And they got to go wander off to Bethlehem to find this lady who's pregnant, who's given

birth in a food trough in a manger because there's no room at the end. And this poor old,

this poor young lady, she's got to spend like the next, God knows how long, entertaining

random strangers who just show up to see her kid, not even to see her. They're there to see

the baby. Now, you moms know this, that nobody wants to come see you. They want to come see your new baby. She's got random. I mean, you at least have like friends and family who are showing up. She's got these random shepherds. And shepherds were like the lowest of the low in society. And here they come to see her baby.

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