Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
If one thing we can learn from the shepherds is that, in the beginning God created… VERBS! That’s right, God created action words. And then, God created STORIES! And a story is the shortest distance between humanity and the truth.
My work as a director of a children’s theatre before I entered the monastery had to do with guiding children and adolescents in using their imagination to find the truth a story reveals. And the best way to do that is through the verbs. We may not be able to identify with the nouns in an old story, but verbs are most often timeless.
When I hear about ancient Near Eastern shepherds, for instance, keeping watch over their flocks by night, the fact of the matter is that, I’m thousands of years and thousands of miles removed from that world. As a twenty-first century US American who has lived mostly in cities and was even intimidated by cows and sheep when I visited Scotland (even though I hate to admit it!), it is a stretch for me to identify with ancient shepherds and their world. But I know what it means to say: “Let’s go now.” I know what it means to find something out for myself, to see with my own eyes. I know what it is to tell what I’ve seen. I know about glorifying and praising God in a powerful moment of encountering Jesus.
So here is a story I made up based on other stories I’ve heard before. You may not be able to relate to the nouns. But I bet you will get the verbs. And I hope you will recognize the truth in it.
There was once a Puerto Rican niño (boy) who wanted to meet Dios (God). The adults in this niño’s life were perplexed but promised to bring him to church on Christmas Day, where, they assured him, he could speak to Dios. But el niño knew in his heart that meeting Dios could surely happen sooner (it was summer, after all).
He remembered seeing a movie en la televisión about Dios and Jesús who were on a beach far away that had just sand but no water, and where men wore long dresses and soldiers wore skirts. So he decided to go find that beach so that he could meet Dios. He packed his mochila (backpack) with some food for the long journey. His mamá had just cooked some pastelillos, so he loaded his mochila with those and a thermos of jugo de parcha and off he went to find Dios.
El niño travelled about half a mile and came upon, not the beach, but la plaza del pueblo (townsquare) where he met a viejita (old woman). She was sitting on a bench staring at las palomas (pigeons). El niño sat down next to her and opened his mochila. He noticed that la viejita seemed hungry, so he offered her one of his pastelillos and some jugo de parcha that she gratefully accepted. As they were eating together, la viejita smiled fondly al niño. Her smile was so lovely that el niño was overjoyed.
The two of them sat there on that bench en la plaza del pueblo eating and smiling, but never said a word. After a while, el niño got up to leave, but before he’d gone more than a few steps, he turned around and ran back to la viejita and gave her a big hug, and la viejita gave him the biggest smile he had ever seen.
It was getting a bit late and el niño decided to return to the safety of his home. When his mamá saw him coming in, she was curious about the look of joy on her son’s face. She asked him, “Hijo, what did you do today that made you so happy?” El niño replied, “I had lunch with Dios and She has the most beautiful smile I have ever seen!”
Meanwhile, la viejita also radiant with joy, returned to her home. Su hija (her grown daughter) was curious about the look of peace on her mamá’s face and asked her, “Mami, what did you do today that made you so peaceful?” La viejita replied, “I ate pastelillos and drank jugo de parcha with Dios, and he is much younger than I expected!”
It may be a sentimental little story, but so is the story of the Nativity. A story is just a story until we find the truth in it. The story of the Puerto Rican boy and the old lady on the townsquare tells a very important truth. We can see God in all sorts of ways and in all sorts of characters because as Julian of Norwich insisted, “We are not just made by God, we are made of God.” The incarnation is about our realization, our welcome, our consent, our gratitude to the mystery that lives and breathes in, with, through, and beyond us. The distinction between the divine and the human, the holy and the ordinary is blurred forever. The spiritual and the material coexist in the same body, in the same place. Our humanity, personal and corporate, is the instrument of God’s work in this world. As we conjure up images of the newborn child, the mystery is born in our hearts once more.
And how is that mystery revealed? It is revealed through human biology, human need, human tragedy huddled together to give birth. God dwells in the vivid details of the scandal of the incarnation story- Mary, a young teenager (probably thirteen or fourteen years old), in danger of facing the wrath of her community because she is pregnant. At best, her pregnancy renders her the object of gossip, scorn, and exclusion from her village. At worst, it places her at the risk of death by stoning. Joseph, confused, living in a land oppressed by enemies, homeless, unwelcome, struggling to find a safe place for Mary to give birth in a world full of injustice. And the Nativity story, according to the anonymous story writer we call Luke, tells us that the news of the birth of the Savior comes first to some shepherds- among the lowliest of the emperor’s subjects- poor, illiterate, and thought to be dishonorable because they could not be home at night to protect their wives. They were outcasts and considered thieves because they grazed their flocks on other people’s property.
So, the Nativity story tells a very important truth. God’s alignment is with the material, the embodied, the messy. God looks with favor on the real flesh-and-blood experiences of simple and singular human beings. But there is more. We are invited to learn from Mary’s consent, from Joseph’s humble obedience, and from the shepherd’s curiosity and sense of urgency that anything and anyone can lead us to God. We are invited to look to everyone and everything as a revelation of God. All is gift. All is sacred because the Light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never overcome it! ¡Feliz Navidad a todos! ¡Que así sea, en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo!
Amen+
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