No Christmas in Bethlehem

By Rev. Clifford Reed
In Readings
Themes: ,

Matthew 2: 18

There’s no Christmas in Bethlehem this year.
No Christmas tree, no coloured lights,
no celebrations, no revellers…

There’s too much suffering,
too much violence, too much hatred,
too much resentment, too much oppression.

Too many people are homeless,
too many are refugees, too many are fearful,
too many are hungry, too many are sick.

Too many people are wounded,
too many are bereaved, too many are without hope.
Too many call on God and get no answer.

Too many babies are born into misery,
too many lack the medicine they need,
too many have lost the security of home and family.

Too many children have died,
too many mothers weep comfortless, like Rachel in Rama,
weep for sons and daughters who are no more.

There’s no Christmas in Bethlehem this year.
It’s too much like Bethlehem two thousand years ago,
when Jesus was born in a fractured, occupied land.

There was no Christmas then either,
only the birth of a baby who grew up
to show us it need not be this way.

God have mercy.

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