So, it’s almost here. The Christmas season is upon us accompanied by snow, the decorations are out (and have been since September!) and everywhere there are children preparing for their nativity plays at school and church. The Christmas Story is surely one of the best known in the world and is re-enacted in such beautiful ways every year (despite the baffling additions of fire dancers and cowboys these days in some school productions!). The beauty and tranquillity of that peaceful stable scene in Bethlehem still manages to draw us in and bring a tear to even the wisest old eye.
But I walked the streets of Bethlehem just a couple of weeks ago and, I have to say, the Holy City seemed a million miles away from the sentimental nativity scene we all grew up with. I stood by the huge concrete separation barrier which cuts the area into dead, soulless ghettos, I spoke to inn keepers and shop keepers who are slowly getting back on their feet, I realised that the Wise Men from the East would never have made it to the manger without digging a tunnel…
I was allowed to travel freely throughout the region on my British Passport but I met Palestinian Christians who had never travelled to the holy sites or Jerusalem, just 20 minutes away from their homes in Bethlehem, because they were not permitted through the check points without an expensive permit. I met the refugees who have been waiting, some for over 60 years, to return to their homes. They still have their keys.
And I began to see that Bethlehem today is in fact much closer to the first Christmas than our romantic carols and nativity plays portray. The fact is that Jesus was born a Palestinian Jew under military occupation, the only reason Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem at all that night was because the Roman Empire were reviewing its oppressive tax system and trying to control the masses. His family had to flee as refugees soon after his birth and he grew up watching those in power abuse the weak and dispossess them of their property and their dignity. It was in this harsh reality that Jesus preached and practised non-violent resistance against a ruthless and oppressive empire. He demonstrated the fragility and value of every human being, audaciously crossing the boundaries of states and culture to unite and transform the world he loved. He revealed the character of God by living a life of sacrificial love and he gave his life to that cause…
and that is why we still call it The Holy Land.
Many thanks to Martin Nicholls who often has a hand in the Pause for Thoughts, and this one in particular has his fingerprints all over it!
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