Bunnies in the Manger
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This past Saturday evening was Noël Night in Detroit's Midtown/Cultural Center area. This is a great evening of free strolls through the museums, live music around every corner, hot cider and Christmas cookies, ice sculpture contests, and in general is a pleasant way to welcome in the Christmas season. I'd say it is an even better event than the Thanksgiving Day parade in terms of getting to know "real" parts of Detroit.
Of course with every event like this visitors are treated to things that both are and are not authentic to city life. The usually locked Woodward-side doors of the Detroit Public Library, for instance, were wide open and welcoming visitors, instead of their usual security laden state. And in general I have a suspicion that the homeless community was noticeably absent - although the Miss Cass Pageant was underway that same evening, and what a great place that must be to spend some time out of the cold!
But it got me thinking - sometimes we treat Advent the same way as Detroit's Noël Night. Sometimes our celebrations during this time both are and are not connected in any meaningful way to the story of God's incarnation in Jesus of Nazareth.
While walking by the church on Woodward which every year sponsors the Live Nativity, my wife and I noticed something. Apparently the Holy Family was on break, because there lying in the manger with Shetland ponies and pigs attending was a small brood of bunnies. For the moment, this recreation of Bethlehem on that starry night had turned mostly into a petting zoo. Not that I'm complaining, I love petting zoos!
But sometimes that's what we let the Christmas season become right? If the stories in Matthew and Luke get a little dry, there's always that movie with the kid sticking his tongue to the pole. If that bit about Herod killing the newborn male babies is a little too intense, there's always the sales at the mall to distract us.
Perhaps, though, it's all a matter of perspective. Maybe we should have our petting zoos and let them remind us that even this little baby is the very present Lord of all creation. Maybe we should let our Noël Nights downtown remind us of the power of hope and goodness in people's lives even when the world and its economy fails them.
I hope you'll find all the signs in the craziness of our Advent traditions that point you back to this amazing story: that God loved us so much, that Jesus the Christ was born as an infant ready to shake the powers to their foundations.
And maybe also, you'll find some bunnies in the manger to pet.
Carl
carl(at)emergedetroit.org
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