Recently I came across a poem by Malcolm Guite, which was read by Dame Kristin Scott Thomas DBE at the King’s request at the Westminster Abbey Carol Service, It was shared on FB and it brought tears to my eyes and me to my knees. It is so very powerful.
So ofter when we think about Christmas we imagine a cute little baby wrapped in white cloths and gently laid in a manger. A lot of us don’t usually allow our imaginations to fill in the sensory blanks – the real sights, sounds and smells of the space in which our Lord and Saviour was born!
We also tend to overlook what happened after – the arrival of the Wise Men from afar, the warning for Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus, the execution of children because Herod felt threatened.
This poem tells it all.
It is also a reminder to all of us in our First World lives that we do not have the right, nor should we claim the privilege, of turning our eyes away from refugees worldwide who are fleeing war, tyranny, poverty, climate crises …
If we acknowledge that Jesus himself was a refugee, then how do we dare call ourselves Christian if we deny refuge for those who are this day’s refugees?
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