As
one gets weary towards the end of a year’s
work, as the summer heat kicks in, as the business of Christmas
preparations and parties surround, it could be quiet easy
to say there is no room in my inn… go away, let
me be, leave me alone. Yet the Christmas event calls
us more urgently than ever to open our doors, to make room
in the
many “inns” of our lives and world.
The scandalous
and shameful events of past weeks as regards turning people
away from our shores, of saying there is no
room in the inn, seems to be just another chink in the demolition
of the core values that have sustained decency, honesty,
a fair go and justice in this country over a long period
of time.
As
well as the refugee and asylum seeker issues we are seeing
and hearing a prevailing attitude of exclusion
in so many
areas of life in this country – exclusion of people
through the destruction of a universal health care system,
the exclusion of people from higher education, the exclusion
of thousands of individuals and families from affordable
housing, the exclusion of children and families kept in detention,
the exclusion of thousands from meaningful employment – the
list goes on and on. Our very earth and its beings scream
out to us to be included in the decisions that result in
destruction – of the land, animals, waterways and oceans.
If in Christ God stakes out a claim
in the world - even if only in a stable,
because "there was no room at the inn" -
then at a stroke he unites in this narrow space the
whole reality of the world
and reveals its ultimate foundation.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
|
Maybe
this particular Christmas, given the events we have witnessed
around exclusion in this country, we face a more
serious call to reflect on the challenge of the Christmas
event. What is the message we need to hear today? What is
the particular challenge for us as we move into a new year
in which we will once again face a federal election and choose
men and women to lead this country? What are the values we
see and hear lived out in the Christmas event that inform
our lives? What is the call to me personally this Christmas – what
spaces in my own heart and life need to be more porous for
the mystery of God to truly enter and transform?
The
Christ Child came into this world met by exclusion – a
refugee and homeless. Our coming into this Christmas Season
with the prevailing attitudes of this country provides the
same fertile ground for us to proclaim and live another set
of values. It is a great time to stop, enjoy life, celebrate,
nourish relationships etc., but maybe it will be good to
take some time to reflect on the betrayal of our core values
and to come into a new year with hearts open to the inclusion
of the Christ Child.
Annette Arnold rsj
(The
copy of the poster above has been used
with the permission
of the Otherway Centre,
Adelaide)
