Christ in the Rubble
By Father Geoff Bottoms
I recently celebrated a humanist funeral for a comrade of mine, and at the reception afterwards his daughter caught me on the hop and asked what kept my faith going. Thinking on my feet I replied that it was the ability to see Christ in everyone. “Can you see Christ in me?” she asked, to which I replied, “Yes.” This took her aback as she didn’t believe in God, like the rest of the family, yet it made her stop and think. Yet if we are all made in the image and likeness of God then deep down at the heart of us God is to be found even if that image has been obscured or blurred by our own weaknesses, failures and contradictions.
All too often we have a sanitised and romanticised image of the Crib. Looking on the face of the Christ Child, those of us with faith see the face of God who has come to share our humanity, and there is nothing more appealing than the beauty of a new-born baby. Yet the cross looms large over the crib for God has entered our broken and fallen world in all its messiness as well as its glory.
And he continues to be reflected throughout the whole of his creation, which he saw as good, even though we have spoilt our relationship with him, with each other, with ourselves, and with this beautiful planet entrusted to our care. And so the face of the Christ Child today is to be found in the suffering children of Gaza, Sudan, and Ukraine. Looking on the crib we see refugee children separated from their families, trafficked and abused children, children living in poverty who end up going to bed hungry.
Bethlehem and Palestine today bear similarities to the time of the birth of Jesus as its people continue to live under occupation. Families are shot at, injured or killed, made homeless by sporadic bombing, despite the ceasefire, and exiled from their land by settlers aided by the army and the police. The circumstances may be different, but the dynamics of power remain the same.
Showing solidarity through love
Yet love came down at Christmas. It took the form of an innocent baby, who grew up to be the Man for Others, revealing the true nature of God himself. By his life of love and obedience, to the point of offering himself on the cross, he gave humankind a fresh start and the promise of eternal life. Creation was to be made anew in order to fulfil its true potential and eternal destiny.
And so we are called to live this abundant new life, love as selflessly as Jesus himself, and be all that we were created to be. In that way we can show that God has truly made his home amongst us. Or as Victor Hugo put it in his novel “Les Miserables,” “To love another person is to see the face of God.” Especially in a world where there is so much suffering, this kind of loving solidarity is so important. Maybe my instinctive reply to that question at my comrade’s funeral was not far off the mark after all!
