As the time after Christmas disappears, so do the many nativity scenes that have decorated every corner of our monastery. No matter what country each represented—and there were many--- after I came home from the Holy Land I had a whole new perspective on our visualizations of the scene on Christmas night in Bethlehem.
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| From our large nativity scene in the Chapel |
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| To a smaller one outside the Sacristy |
Traditionally, we have been told that St. Joseph could not find a place for his young wife, soon to be in labor, to give birth to her baby son. As the story goes, the inns were too full and only at the last minute were they offered a manger in a stable. I have spent many Advents lamenting the lack of hospitality of the inhabitants of Bethlehem. Our manger scenes depict all kinds of structures out in the back of an inn that I imagined similar to the innyards of Shakespeare’s time or as the first century equivalent of a Motel 6.
The explanation of Husan, our Arab-Christian guide, offered a whole new light on the situation. In those days in Nazareth and Bethlehem, any kind of place offering shelter would have been a cave. I was privileged to see restorations of what these cave homes looked like. There was an entry into a space roughly equivalent to a modern family room. The difference was that that area was where the family lived during the day and also where they slept at night. On one side in the wall was an oven for baking and cooking. This room opened immediately on a second space where the animals were kept. They were a necessity because they kept the house warm, especially at night.
Now think back on the parable Jesus told about the head of a household who had an unexpected guest come during the night. Because he had no bread, he went to a neighbor’s cave, knocked on the door and asked that family to lend him some food. The father replies that he cannot do that because “the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.” ( Lk 11:7)
The explanation Husan gave was that in all probability when Mary and Joseph sought lodging, the places were already full of family and traveling friends. The only space would have been in the adjoining room of the cave where the cattle and the manger were. This description takes the people of Bethlehem off the hook, so to speak. They were not inhospitable. They gave the Holy Family the room and warmth for Mary to deliver the Christ Child with some privacy.
O little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie.
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep the silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light.
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.
