“The hopes & fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
In the grotto of the Church of the Nativity, at the spot where Mary is said to have laid Jesus in the manger.
I was last here in 2006, & my experiences could not have been more different. 11 years ago, I experienced the basilica as sheer sensory overload: the crowds felt too overwhelming, the competing souvenir shops too kitschy. Intellectually, I didn’t know what to think about the disputed historicity of any such holy sights.
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This time, the world felt very different from the little town of Bethlehem. This year, all the tourists are staying away. This time I wasn’t overwhelmed by all the activity or surrounding religious kitsch. This time, my eyes flooded when I descended the steps into the grotto.
.
Look, I have no idea if this is the actual historical site of the manger. And in what is sure to be a disappointment to some, I could care less. I don’t believe that any evidence demands any particular verdict, I was not won over by “the case for Christ,” I don’t know about the historicity of much of anything.
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I believe in the story of the Church. That’s what’s different between then & now, for me. I heard a story from witnesses I found trustworthy. I believed them, so I believe in him. I believe in his birth, & life, & resurrection, as a matter of faith.
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Because I believe in the Church’s story, I believe in the pilgrims that have come here desperate to find the real estate where the glory touched the ground. I believe in the unkempt assortment of oddball pilgrims who came here chasing down some dream, hopeful, cynical & wild-eyed; sometimes only curious. I believe in them, so I believe in the pilgrimages they made.
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Inside that grotto, hundreds of thousands of people-young & old, rich & poor, disabled-have crawled into that little space full of dreams & disappointments, looking for God. Is that not enough to consecrate any space, to make any ground holy? Would the Christ child have to poop on this exact spot, for the Holy Spirit to be there? Doubting, dreaming, hoping, seething-misfits come over & over again. Has Christ been here, in the midst of so much human fragility & chaos?
Obviously.
Jonathan Martin: Author of How to Survive a Shipwreck & Prototype; founder of The Table. Not optimistic, but hopeful. Not unafraid, but unwilling to be silent. @jonathanmartin on twitter.