Christmas
Bethlehem is wherever a baby is born and wonder-filled parents enjoy the moment.
Bethlehem is wherever new lives are birthed and nurtured towards independent being.
Bethlehem is wherever renewed spirit and fresh perspective emerge from out the human shadows.
Bethlehem is wherever human imagination unfolds into stories and sculptures and symphonies.
Bethlehem is wherever seeds of peace and renewal are scattered across fields of waste and war.
Bethlehem is wherever new life sprouts in contexts of death and decay.
Bethlehem is wherever a generation of old life overlaps with a generation of new.
Bethlehem is wherever gifts offered with good faith are accepted with thanks and grace.
Bethlehem is wherever the starry sun rises and ‘rests’ above our homes.
Bethlehem is wherever caring innkeepers find room for the needy of refuge and asylum.
Bethlehem is wherever choirs sing ‘Gloria’ and bands make joyful noises to the Lord.
Bethlehem is wherever some new saviour or some new redeemer quietly slips into the world.
Bethlehem is wherever hope pushing gently comes through smothering blankets of despair.
Bethlehem is wherever and whenever . . .
It was there and then, and it is here and now.
Bethlehem is . . .
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