And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2: 7 NRSV
The picture above was taken by my seven year-old this past March. The star marks the traditional spot of Jesus' birth. You can find it in a small room below the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Just this week my son looked at this picture again and asked why the star was bent. I know that there have been some deadly altercations and kidnappings in this very church in recent years. And my husband and myself have traveled there previously. But does that mean this is why it is bent?
Looking at our pictures from almost 15 and 20 years ago, it is hard to tell. The church used to keep candles near the star so that our pictures are dark, but it looks like the star was bent even back then.
Either way, the bent star reminds us of the chaos that Jesus was born into as well as the chaos we have today. Even when God's son came into the world, there was no comfortable place for him to be born.
There is still no comfortable place for Jesus to be born today. Yet, remarkably, he still enters in.
God, thank you for entering into the bent, broken and chaotic world. In Jesus' Holy name. Amen.
Question of the day: Where in your life would you consider yourself bent or broken?
Copyright Amelia G. Sims
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