CHRISTMAS IS A WINTER FESTIVAL

Features » Churches and Religion

Andy Ormiston / 2009-11-25 15:02:25

Baby Jesus

We are near the end of November with Christmas in sight and the Christian calendar begins with Advent, four weeks of spiritual preparation before the actual Nativity or birthday of Jesus Christ. The 25^th December was never his actual birth date but as no-one knew the real date, then over the centuries this was adopted by the Christian Church, replacing a pagan one of Winter.

Nowadays many people, including in Cataluña, want to ban the idea of Christmas and go back in time to hold a pagan style Winter Festival. Personally I think that would be a grave mistake apart from any religious or spiritual reasons. Looking at some of the events in the life of Jesus and comparing them to today, we can learn many lessons.

About forty years ago I was working in an office in a central London Church at Farm Street. A couple of workmen who were repairing the church came in rather shyly and said there was something in the church and, as at this time London had many IRA bomb scares, they were a bit afraid. I went over and there was a bundle of clothes at the foot of one of the huge pillars. It moved and I looked and picked it up and there was a tiny baby peeking up at me. The bundle had a note, which roughly said, “My name is Katia and my mother loves me very much, but cannot keep me.” I was completely overcome with so many mixed emotions, tenderness for the fragility of so small a creature, sadness and joy for the mother who was put into a position of having to make so many decisions. Perhaps becoming pregnant by someone who did not care or with whom she had no close relationship; thinking of alternatives, abortion, going back home probably to encounter the shame and blame of an unmarried mother and likely not being accepted by another man. So the young mother made a rather brave decision to my mind. She decided to carry the baby to fruition, probably hiding the pregnancy from her employers and with whoever she was lodged. As a single girl she faced many problems in London.

Anyway, we called the police who said the mother was probably a thief who had pinched the obviously new clothes, which I doubted. In fact it turned out that two young women had bought these clothes from a Mothercare ship in Oxford Street the same day that the child was found in church. I often wonder what has happened to that young mother, and to her baby who may now be a mother or even grandmother herself and wonder if they were ever reunited.

This is one of the lessons that Christmas holds for me. Mary was unmarried, became pregnant; if her betrothed man Joseph denounced her she would have been stoned to death. In the event Joseph did accept the child and married Mary and the child Jesus grew up in a loving environment offering him a sense of protection and a family that taught him about the need to love others and providing them with an example.

His was an exemplary life with so many parallels in our own lives that has altered the course of history, whether or not people deny or accept the very human Christmas story. Perhaps that other child I found has also helped people in her way through life. I hope so, for she touched my life.

Tags: Christmas, Festive, Spain