The Nativity

 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. 54

As has become my habit, I spent some time reading the nativity stories in Matthew and Luke this week. We all remember the second chapter of Luke best, I think, how Caesar wanted to take a census so he'd know how much money he could bleed from Rome's conquests, how Joseph and Mary journeyed to Bethlehem, just east of Jerusalem, and how Jesus was born there in a stable because the Holiday Inn of two thousand years ago was full.

The quote at the beginning of this entry is from the first chapter of Luke, however, probably not read as often and Mary is the speaker. I doubt it gets a reading around the Koch brothers' Christmas dinner table at any rate. Was Mary in favor of "income redistribution?" Would she have relied on private charity for unfortunate people or would she have supported government action on their behalf, and I don't just mean Caesar's public works program in Rome, shovel-ready though it might have been.

Two other things struck me as I read the gospel stories. First,  on two occasions, Jospeh  bases his actions on dreams, taking Mary and the baby to Egypt to avoid Herod's murderous attempt on the child's life, then returning to Israel when Herod's death is revealed to him in a dream. The ancients seem to have given much greater credence to dreams and a dreamworld than modern people do. Can you imagine the local reaction to a modern person who fled on the basis of a dream?

Then, I thought I had found a boo-boo in Matthew. The gospeler first tells us the Star of Bethlehem was seen by Wise Men in the east. Then the Wise Men are quoted saying they had seen the star in the east. It took me awhile to realize they were repeating that they were in the east, not the star, the star must have been in their western sky. Otherwise, they would have had to approach Jerusalem and Bethlehem from the west, whould would probably have required a dip in the Mediterranean Sea.

Once, years ago, I attended a planetarium show that tried to explain the star. Astronomers had made a survey of the skies, looking for the remains of a nova or supernova that might have exxploded at about that time.  As I remember it, there isn't a good candidate. They then considered that there could have been a conjunction of planets or planets and stars that would have been especially bright. Jupiter, it turns out, was close to Regulus in the night sky at about the time Jesus was born.

But I believe the people of two thousand years ago were much more attentive to the night sky than we are today. They would not have mistaken something like that for a new star. As far as I'm concerned, either the Star was a miracle or it didn't happen at all.

Well, it's snowing here in Colo Spgs as I write this, five or six inches down and a little more to come. We'll have a white Christmas here, even if it's only leftover snow. For those of you in the east, I'll  bet you get the storm on Christmas eve or Christmas day.

Merry Christmas. May all your cares be light.