Unwitting accomplices

Matthew 2:19-20

The Return from Egypt

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.”

We think of the Angels singing:"Peace on earth"

We imagine the shepherds hurrying to Bethlehem

We romanticise the notion of the stable 

complete with a little donkey

and other assorted animals keeping the baby warm.

In our mind's eye is a blissful mother

and a bursting with pride father.

We conveniently overlook the fear

and the poverty

the political unrest

the brutality of occupying forces

and the desperation of folk in that time.

And we try to do the same today.

To make Christmas idyllic

a time of indulgence and goodwill.

A season to deny reality -

be it the harsh reality of today

or of that first Christmas world.

And even when we are confronted

by inescapable inhumanity:

The murder of children

The abuse of power 

The sleaze of politics

The race to consume

Still we hope and pray for a different world.

But the Advent of hope, love, peace and joy

of which we speak and sing and for which we pray

demands that we get real

that we open our eyes

that we are affected

and move to change a world

where weapons are more valued than health care

and where oil revenue is so tightly held

that none can be spared to provide clean water for all.

Where food mountains and arms dumps grow

while people starve and are moved from their lands.

Those who sought the child's life

are still to the fore

and we have become accomplices.