December 21, 2008

Dear Friends,

Last week I went to a Christmas fair at a local hotel where various crafts people bring their wares for shoppers to do some Christmas shopping. The commercialism of Christmas is virtually non-existent here so it is quite a pleasant affair. This year at one stall there were a series of nativity scenes, each one different reflecting the lifestyle of a different Nepali ethnic group. But they all had one thing in common: the setting was the cowshed. In Nepal, they don't have barns as such. Sometimes cows or buffalos occupy a room in the house, but more often, their housing is set aside, and consists of a thatched roof held up by four poles, and no walls. In the winter, needless to say, it can be quite cold. But of course, their hair grows thick, and they are accustomed to it.

As I looked at the different Nativity scenes, I thought that they are not too different from the reality of today, because in Nepal, most babies are still born at home, and not in the hospital. And, of those born at home, most are not born actually in the home itself, but in the cowshed—often a shed with a roof but no walls. This is because giving birth is considered to be ritually unclean, and so the room the baby is born in also becomes unclean for some time, and it would be inconvenient for one of the few rooms of the house itself to be unclean.

If you read Leviticus 13, you will see that Jews and Christians have the same heritage. It has made me wonder whether when Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethlehem, was there really no room in the inn? Or did the innkeeper not want one of his rooms to become unclean and therefore unrentable, and so he only offered the couple the stable in which Jesus was born.

This coming year I hope and pray that all of us can look beyond the traditions that keep us apart and instead see those many experiences and hopes that we share in common and that can help us to all move forward together.

In June I will be retiring from PC(USA). I look forward to seeing and sharing with many of you before then as I visit my churches in the spring. Thank you all for your support over the years, some so faithfully since my very first term in 1985!

I wish you a very fruitful and healthy New Year,

Beverley

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 90