Going viral

Chris, the baby boy born on the Philadelphia train on Christmas Day, had his entry into the world well documented and his unusual birth was reported by news organizations around the world. What if the same had been true two thousand years ago?

We would have to accept that baby Jesus was darker skinned than artists have since depicted. As the story went viral, we would really see him as the babe in the manger, squalling face and all. His human-ness would confront us and we would realize that diaper rash, first steps, the terrible twos, and learning the “ABC’s” were ahead of him.

Parts of the well-known story would be filled in. Did that innkeeper call for the local midwife? Did Joseph remain with Mary the whole time and coach her when to pant and when to push? We would all see the terror and joy in the teen parents’ faces, Mary’s exhaustion, Joseph’s frustration at the shoddy surroundings, and their fear at being so far from home just because they were doing what the law required. They both knew that it takes a village to raise a child, and here they were, all alone, with their firstborn.

Perhaps viewers would text and donate to help the family get better accommodations. Shortly, however, they would have some expensive presents to post on EBay to cover the costs of their flight to Egypt, where they would be immigrants, and their return to set up shop and a new household in Nazareth. A shepherd would post a video of the angels on You Tube and we all could see and hear the heavenly host.

OK, you get the idea which I’m sure is not original. But where this musing ultimately led me was to the discovery that I want to have a conversation with those who prayerfully considered what to keep in and what to leave out of what we know as the Bible. By not including material on nearly three decades of Jesus’ life – the Facebook and social media equivalent pieces of the day to day of his childhood, adolescence and through his twenties and which surely existed – we are left to struggle with the concept of God/Human, and, in that struggle, I think the ‘human’ gets the short shrift. In an era when our heroes often dominate headlines because of their human failings, it would be good to have more of a record of the life of the person, our brother, born to be the ultimate hero.

Marilyn