The climate of the stable stands in stark contrast to two trends that are gaining momentum in western society.
It is rare for me to feel
embarrassed about being a Christian.
But, on November 8 as I watched media interview American Christians who
supported Donald Trump, I was embarrassed. I simply could not reconcile the poisonous
and frequently false rhetoric of the President-elect with the implications of
the Gospel message. During the Christmas season, Christians and non-Christians can
discover the implications of that message in the nativity.
Last night as I stuffed and stitched
cloth nativity figures together for my grandchildren to play with as we read
the Christmas story, I had plenty of time (due to my inadequate sewing skills)
to reflect on the nativity as a metaphor for our time.
Every nativity scene has a baby Jesus
with open arms. The baby is ready to embrace everyone and everything. His open
arms are a powerful symbol of welcome, friendship and acceptance. He is also a symbol of
vulnerability. He is, after all,
lying in a feeding trough filled with hay. That ox and ass hovering around might start rooting in the
manger for food.
Every nativity scene also includes the
baby’s parents, some shepherds and three wise men, variously referred to as
kings or magi. This disparate group of strangers might feel some trepidation
about rubbing shoulders. They are a mismatch of cultures, religions, ethnicity
and socio-economic status. But before
the baby, their differences melt away. Male or female, rich or poor, Jewish or not, they are people
equal in dignity.
The climate of the stable stands in
stark contrast to two trends that are gaining momentum in western society.
As recent political events have
illustrated, truth is on its way out.
The Oxford Dictionaries choose “post-truth” as the 2016 word of the
year. Use
of the term spiked during the Brexit referendum and the US Presidential
election.
Oxford defines post-truth as “relating to or
denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping
public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”. In plain speak, “don’t confuse me with
the truth” sums up the present mood.
A November tweet from the Independent
lamented, “We’ve entered a post-truth world and there’s no going back.” Apparently, people have no appetite for
truth. Truth has become irrelevant.
The runner up to the 2016 word of the
year was “alt-right”. Alt-right
refers to an ideological group that espouses ultra conservative and reactionary
viewpoints. The alt-right rejects mainstream politics and uses online media to
disseminate its content. This
content frequently smacks of white supremacy, racism, misogyny and
anti-Semitism.
The word of the year and its runner-up
are indicative of the troubling times in which we live. From the pushback on
refugees and immigration to reports of an escalation in incidents of racial
violence, western society seems to be trending backwards. This trend is playing out internationally
and in our own communities.
Racist flyers, for example, are cropping
up in villages, towns and cities across the country. In my village of about 1700 inhabitants someone
removed an anti-Semitic flyer from a community bulletin board. In Richmond, residents
rallied in unity against the distribution of anti-Chinese flyers. In Edmonton,
police were on the lookout for a man believed to be delivering flyers targeting
Moslems. In Toronto, police were
investigating racist posters urging people to join the alt-right.
In this climate of suspicion and hatred,
the scene at the stable can be an inspiration for more harmonious human
interactions. The nativity can remind us that being human has always been
risky, that to love means to be vulnerable, and that the way to peace is one of
inclusion not exclusion. In the environment of the stable, ego gives way to
humility, suspicion to trust, prejudice to acceptance, superiority to
friendship, bombast to silence, and falsehood to truth.
Whatever beliefs we hold, may the peace
and goodwill that infused the stable with warmth on that first Christmas
penetrate our hearts, correct our attitudes, and inform our actions throughout
the coming year.
The Gospel message so beautifully presented
in the nativity will never embarrass me.
I am embarrassed, though, that we still don’t get it.
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