There is one part of the Christmas story that does not receive enough attention. It is the stable!
Why should we pay attention?
In the world of Mary and Joseph, the mode of transportation was either on foot or with a donkey. This was a beast who carried travellers to their destination. But at the end of the day, you need to house, water and feed this animal. The stable is a place of care for the animals; the often forgotten part of daily life in Palestine.
We want to be in touch with the poverty of Mary and Joseph. They could not afford a hotel room. We cringe to think of a birth happening in the place where the donkeys were kept.
The stable marks the place where God has chosen to come among us. Our God is born in a barn, amidst the animals.
The deeper meaning of the stable is that in this very ordinary place of work and business, our God comes among us. Deliberately, he did not choose to be born among the rich and the powerful. But the stable is too ordinary!
The stable helps us to see that God may be very present in the nursing home. We visit our aged relative who has difficulty getting his words out into an understandable order. This may be a somewhat frustrating visit, but the Lord is present in our kindness and patience.
The stable may be our kitchen table, before everyone else gets out of bed. It is quiet as you pour your first cup of coffee. You are attentive to the presence of Christ right around the table. There are no words, but you are sharing in the presence of Christ around your kitchen table.
The Spirit of God moves you to pick up the phone to call a cousin in Calgary who is undergoing chemo therapy for his cancer. Things do not look well. You listen with empathy and try to offer words of support. He thanks you that you cared and made the effort to check up on his condition. In that space of the telephone call, you had the stable. The goodness of God was born in you!
Your adult children have learnt not to bring \up the topic of homelessness in our big cities. They know that you will become very determined and at times have anger in your voice. They know that you are passionately concerned about the marginalized persons in our cities. In your passion and your anger, all an expression of goodness, the stable of Bethlehem ins present. The Spirit of God is very much in the passion and the smoldering anger in your voice.
The stable is never far away. It is every place, no matter how ordinary, where the Spirit of God is moving and bringing forth life, passion and service.
Look around your life. How many times are you living in the stable? How many times is the life and mystery of God present in so ordinary placess?
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