the true nativity

there is a wonderful picture in the latest issue of TIME magazine, the "best photos of the year" issue (no. 9). it is a haunting picture of a pakistani woman, an earthquake survivor. her head is wrapped with a bright red shawl. her eyes are dark, shadowed by the weight of her life. she is looking at the camera with such great intensity that you feel as if she can see you. her young son is laying before her and she is huddled over him as if trying to keep him warm. you feel guilty for your own warmth, your own sense of safety. together they wait under a white tent, their make-shift shelter. you wonder what they might be waiting for. from somewhere above there is a bright white light shining down, illuminating their tent and the desperateness of their lives.

my initial thought, when looking at the picture, was that it looked like a nativity scene. mother and child together, under their second-class shelter, with a guiding light shining faithfully above them. i showed the picture to some of my workmates and asked, "doesn't this look like a nativity scene?" i didn't get much of a response. sometimes i can be somewhat of a "downer" at work. nativities are supposed to beautiful. they are supposed to display an angelic mary holding her newborn baby, Christ the King, surrounded by the heavenly hosts and cute little sheep. it's CHRISTMAS! But this picture did not display that sense at all.

upon further reflection i realized just how similar this picture was to the actual scene played out that day in Bethlehem. jesus did not enter a tidy, happy world. instead he entered into a desperate world. ceasar was on the move, killing thousands of people in his path. people were living impoverished lives, having to pay close to 80% of their earnings in tax to the mighty roman empire. many of them had to give up their land, land that had been in their family line for generations, land that brought honour to their names. their honor had long since dwindled. these were people who were crying out, "help me, save me." but they didn't know who they were crying out to.... mary herself was a desperate young mother, ridiculed for being pregnant before she was wed. she gave birth to a king in a dirty, shit-smelling shed.

and then, there was that light...and it gave great hope.

jesus' birth came in direct defiance to the world. a king born into poverty. a saviour whose death would mean life. jesus was born into a dark world to be a light. he came to be peace. and he came to bring JUSTICE.

the picture in TIMES shows us exactly how unjust our world still is. the poor woman, her dying son, her intensity that screams "just DO something!"

and then there is that light above her. it gives light to her dark world. she may not know the source of that light, but it has come to save her. it is a modern day nativity.

Merry Christmas. --SN