The Christmas scene is anything but ordinary. “What happened at the manger wasn’t designed to put me in ‘the holiday mood,’” writes Dan Schaeffer. “It was intended to shake me to the roots of my soul.” In this excerpt from his book In Search of the Real Spirit of Christmas, Dan Schaeffer helps us see beyond the holiday traditions to embrace Jesus—the gift God sent into the trouble and difficulty of our lives to bring us true peace.