No crying he makes?

FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

"O Little Town of Bethlehem", today

Nicely rounded explanations
Safe and sanitised solutions
A magic text for every doubt
A definitive answer for every mystery
“There, there everything’s going to be alright.”
FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

A woman abused and left used, abused and lonely
A teenage widow behind the love of her life’s coffin
A child whose legs were ripped from his body by landmines
A ten year old township orphan cooking for her little brothers
A father whose child has been found strangled in the forest park
FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

A recently wall papered stable
Freshly washed cattle and perfumed straw
A carpenter with extra mural studies in midwifery
Theologically sound eastern stargazing mystics
A perfect little baby “no crying he makes”
FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

Impoverished and homeless
Germs breeding in the filth and squalor
A teenage girl screams birth fierce pain
Death squads in the dawn’s first light
Refugees running in fear of their lives
FOR GOD’S SAKE, BORN INTO THE MIDST OF REALITY.

Taken from Steve Stockman's blog, 2009 (http://stocki.typepad.com/)

The Christmas season is one of my favourite times of year, and at the same time the season that causes me the most frustration. Many of us, and I include myself in this, have made negative comments about how Jesus is often forgotten at Christmas. So, then we go to church to celebrate the 'real meaning' of Christmas. This may include a candlelit service, where we sing 18th century hymns and eat mince pies after the service (if we're in Northern Ireland). We also tend to sing about Bethlehem as if it is, and was, a sleepy village. After we have done all this, we leave knowing we have celebrated the real meaning of Christmas.

But, have we? Or, does the verse below describe more accurately what we have celebrated?

A recently wall papered stable
Freshly washed cattle and perfumed straw
A carpenter with extra mural studies in midwifery
Theologically sound eastern stargazing mystics
A perfect little baby “no crying he makes”

FOR GOD’S SAKE GIVE US SOME REALITY.

I crave the reality of the Christmas story.

Impoverished and homeless
Germs breeding in the filth and squalor
A teenage girl screams birth fierce pain
Death squads in the dawn’s first light
Refugees running in fear of their lives
FOR GOD’S SAKE, BORN INTO THE MIDST OF REALITY

It challenges and comforts me to know that Jesus came into the midst of reality. Into a reality similar to many of the people I work with here in Nashville.

Poverty...

Teenage pregnancy...

Perseverance...

Refugees who had to flee their home country...

Don't get me wrong, I love the festive traditions, and I do not believe there is anything wrong with celebrating the birth of Jesus in this way. However, I do believe the problem arises when we are comfortable in these traditions. When we never question them and when we forget about the reality of the Christmas story.

FOR OUR SAKE BORN INTO THE MIDST OF REALITY