Of an empty crib
The empty crib in the nativity scene in our Church caught my eye the other day. It was just there, in the middle of the straw with some animals and Mary and Joseph looking on expectantly.
It had been a long day with much to ponder and process and I thought for a moment, that sometimes (and possibly you dear reader) that I am a bit like that empty crib.
Surrounded by the mucky mayhem of the day and the world, there is an emptiness that I know needs to be filled and yet…
And yes it’s true that Our Lady and St. Joseph watch over me and are always looking on, but somehow, some days, some times, I am empty and barren. Hopeful and expectant, yet still barren and blank.
It is perhaps in these moments that I am most receptive to the Christ-Child, to Him. When every pretence and pretension, when every gloss and superficiality is stripped away when I am left raw and bruised, it is then I am most ready and eager to receive what I need the most.
So my message is one of encouragement to myself and to you. The muckiest and murkiest place is where the King of Kings chooses to come in His most vulnerable and fragile form to show to the world that He is very interested in our empty manky managers. He is very interested in us. This is where He longs to be, this is where He wants to be, this is where He chooses to ‘pitch his tent’ and it is a marvellous and wondrous thing.
So I shall look with fresh eyes at this waiting manger and hopefully see not something that is empty and desolate, but rather see a place for God Himself to come and make His home.