A look back on 2015 might bring memories of terrorism, the immigration crisis, financial crisis in the EU and corruption galore. All might seem dark and gloomy just as it was in the dirty cave of Bethlehem that night, with the tragedy of a left-out family giving birth to a child in the cold dark night in a cave.
But surely there was some light! We can mention the positive drive for the environment on the national and international agenda, the emancipation of women in the Saudi Arabian elections, the positive move in US-Cuban relations to mention a few.
Still these seem to be so weak in front of the bleak image 2015 has portrayed! After all, the media is inundated with bad news which does not allow us to enjoy the many little and not so little good news of the everyday lives of billions of people. Yet still the year can appear heavy, and the cave dark.
Is it the list of ‘good news’ which is the truly Good News? It’s the context of this great birth, this Person who inspired and changed the lives of billions and which somehow still brings joy for many every year. More than 2,000 years down the line it still sheds light on our perspective towards life, our perspective on the Good News.
Somehow, this great event which might be the most celebrated in space and time in the whole world, happens in the context of repudiation, of an ‘irregular’ or ‘abusive’ situation as some might report it today. The context is one of gossip: Joseph felt entrapped, as would happen in today’s society and social media. Somehow, the Lord decides to be born in this family, a family living in poverty, in a lost forgotten town and not in a big city where all news happens in today’s world. Thus the message is clear: the Lord, life and love happen where we least expect it, even in our failures, in our tragedies, in our gossip-torn world. He is there, life is there!
The Lord, life and love happen where we least expect it... in our failures, in our tragedies and in our gossip-torn world
Where do we look for life? Where do we look for truth, even looking back on our personal year? It might be there where we decide not to look at, where we felt most vulnerable, where we feel most ashamed. The words of Oscar Romero continue shedding light on this: “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.”
The big event is announced in the workplace, not in one of the worldwide political institutions or pop star stages. It is announced to a group of shepherds watching their flocks, amid the work environment.
This is a context we least look into for the good news: the day to day routine, the suffering, the humble service of people doing their job, the service of mothers and fathers given to their children. It doesn’t make news, as long as the unemployment numbers are down, and the economy, not necessarily humanity and society, is going strong.
There, life is announced, in our day to day. As Khalil Gibran put it: “I slept and I dreamed that life is all joy. I woke and I saw that life is all service. I served and saw that service is joy.” How was God, life, hope, present in my workplace, in the daily service in the family throughout this year?
All this happens out in the open, below the star(s) and the sky, away from the cities in a cave, in the middle of nature. The gift of creation is another gift, where God calls, where God is present with his life-giving power and this gift “can only be understood as a gift from the outstretched hand of the Father of all, and as a reality illuminated by the love which calls us together into universal communion” (Pope Francis, Laudato Si, 76).
The call from the cave is a call of hope, a call pointing to a truly life-giving reality, which was present even on what might seem for us a bleak 2015 and what will definitely be present in another God-filled reality in 2016.
tonimifsud@yahoo.com