Instead of the usual image
on top of the blog
this time use your imagination
Dear Readers, this is my last blog this year, it seems a
good time to write you with a thought of Christmas in mind. That celebration when
we wish each other peace and goodwill. That celebration where we indulge in the
love of our family and friends and generally eat and drink a little too much.
Peace on Earth
Maybe a good place to start is
where this all began for me. Remembering strongly the place and time when I was
a child in Holland. Usually there would be snow, frost, cold, short days and
much warmth inside. There would be special things to eat, Christmas decorations
and soft snow on the windowsill. There may have been a snowman in the miniscule
garden but there was definitely a warming fire in the hearth. The Christmas
tree would arrive, bringing with it the perfume of nature and the forest. A
fresh wood smell mingled with the smell of sweet spicy Christmas cooking. Then,
on Christmas eve, the very old and beautifully painted statues of the Christmas
story would appear. A highlight. Carefully, they would be taken, one by one,
out of an old cardboard box and out of their soft paper wrappings. Some
animals, I recall an gentle bovine and a scattering of soft sheep, there would
be a baby Jesus, a Mary and Joseph, a few shepherds and the magnificent three
kings. All would appear from the their year in storage. As new. The whole scene
would be set around an old wooden stable made, by my dad, from bits and pieces.
Lastly, and to give the whole scene an ambiance of a stable, there would be a
few handfuls of fragrant straw, another special effect for a city kid.
The whole scene used to be placed
on a side board (I recall this specifically because it allowed me, when I was
small and this event was at its most potent, to view the scene from eye level.
As a result it appeared most realistic, as if I was part of it). The tall white
candles would be lit and with that action the magic of Christmas arrived. I
could stand for hours looking and dreaming at this most wonderful and intimate
scene.
Christmas eve would be very
special, not because of presents because we did not exchange presents and gifts
during Christmas. This was a family event with the emphasis of sharing the
family experience rather than things. (How I still long for the feeling of that
time, gift and hassle free). This was also the time for the story of the
nativity scene to be told and the questions, as to why a child had to be born
in a stable, which was beyond my imagination, to be answered. Here in the
warmth of a my family’s Christmas home I always found it hard to understand
that when a man and his pregnant wife, riding a donkey, trying to find a place
of comfort they had to be banished to a stable. Although on the sideboard of
our house this all looked good, the real story, and the way it was told with
colour and imagination by my dad, changed all that. I used to be puzzled and
horrified. I still am.
I still am because now I once
more have to relive this Christmas story in my own home. Only now the nativity
story of old has become all to real. The people seeking a place of comfort this
time aren’t named Mary and Joseph, and their child about to be born isn’t
called Jesus, but those people seeking a place of comfort are still people and
in many ways exactly the same as those seeking a place of comfort some two
thousand years ago. They are people in need who come to our door and knock on
it in hope… Although the story is similar, there are a few differences. The
donkey is replaced by a old donkey-like boat, the stable is now a place of
detention. The straw, of some comfort, is replaced by razor wire and the
candles lighting that scene centuries ago are now white searchlights. The
animals of the nativity scene, which gave at least a sense of warmth and
comfort such as the donkey, oxen and sheep, have been replaced by growling
guard dogs. There are still the good shepherds and even an expression of the
three kings in the form of the many concerned citizens and refugee advocates.
However, they are not allowed to enter the stable to bring their simple
offerings. Nor some human warmth.
After the event in Bethlehem we
were going to make sure this would not ever happen again. We even called our
commitment after Jesus Christ, that is ‘Christian’ so we would be sure to
behave as Christ, or Christians. We even build many churches to make sure we
would be reminded of our Christian behaviour each and every Sunday. Good Christians.
Today’s innkeepers the politicians of both sides Heartofstone apparently are
also Christians and go to church to prove it. By making this comparison I think
I am being unfair to the original inn-keeper. What I remember from the story
was that he did not have room, while our contemporary innkeepers have more than
plenty.
One of the strongest images from
the original nativity scene on the sideboard, lit by candles and perfumed by
real straw was the peacefulness of the swaddled baby Jesus. Still now, many
years later, when I look at a newborn baby that feeling of an all pervading
peace and sense of wonder overwhelms me. It maybe the total innocence of that
new life, it maybe the promise of the future, it maybe the total helplessness
of the being. Whatever it is, it is very special. Looking at newborn babies,
and not only the baby Jesus, seems to bring out the best in people. Most
people.
Just as it was inconceivable for
me to understand, as a child, how a baby could possibly be banished to a stable
to be born, it is now totally inconceivable for me to understand, even as an
adult, how my government, and we as a nation, could banish children of all ages
to a detention stable. Not for a night but for years on end. Some of them have
been there all their lives. For some it is their fifth Christmas. Why I wonder.
How, in 2012, can we as
fellow human beings possibly allow this to happen. Christians? What sort of
Christians are they?
Look at
the children around you now, look at those children again at Christmas and
wonder, as I do, at the terribleness of this situation and the absolute
heartlessness of the politicians responsible.
I have long since given up on
being a Christian and on Christian politicians. I have had a bit of trouble
with the examples I am continuously being supplied with. I even feel that
Christmas is now without real meaning and just a commercial fake. However, all
the same, I would like to wish you all a lovely and safe holiday season,
whatever your believes. Till next year when I hope the sun may shine for all
children.
