'This, and every birth, is unique. It is a new presence.' Photo: Our Lady of Regla, Harmonia Rosales, 2019
It’s a wonder-full life: Bernard Coote on an end and a beginning
‘The birth of a baby at Bethlehem is more than a date on a calendar.’
The words will be sung worldwide. The story told in every language. A story of wonder. Wise men from the East followed a star, presented gifts to a baby, then disappeared and were never heard of again. The question asked in their story – Who will this child be? – has intrigued human minds ever since. We still wonder.
The starlight of the story is another wonder. It began its journey in deep space before shining over Bethlehem – began before this planet was formed, or humans walked upon it. All is wonder. Have we presumed we are unique in this universe? Another wonder.
During COP26, in all nations, millions of us were on the streets sharing a deep concern for humankind. The question ‘Who will this child be?’ has a companion: ‘What is humankind here for?’ There is an awareness, a concern, for our human future. On the streets were young and old, rich and poor, those with much learning and little, of faith and no faith. The beating heart of humanity was sensing its frailty; seeking assurance. To what end? It is a wonder.
The birth of a baby at Bethlehem is more than a date on a calendar, an historic event long gone. This, and every birth, is unique. It is a new presence. There is all that has preceded it, and expectation of what may come. It is a matter of destiny. We have ways of expressing it in love and commitment, in faith and religion, music and art, classrooms and conference centre, science lab and space exploration. From the moment of birth, we respond to wonder. We need to say, ‘Now I see’.
Words are woefully inadequate. The theologian Paul Oestreicher writes that ‘I cannot explain the mystery of how someone who is another human being, just as I am, can also be worshipped… it isn’t that Jesus has become more like God, but all my brothers and sisters have. It is through him I recognise God in my neighbour – through Jesus I’ve discovered the uniqueness of everyone’. Now I see! William Penn, from the viewpoint of his times, wrote: ‘The truest end of life, is to know the life that never ends.’ TS Eliot gave us his wisdom in the lines: ‘We shall not cease from exploration… And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’
Birth is an end and a beginning: from darkness to light, protection to freedom, where all end is a beginning. Now I see!
If only we knew what Jesus of Bethlehem was thinking when he said, ‘You must be born again’. He is the light on the way to being able to say, ‘Now I see’.
