O Little Town ..

Jesus would not find it easy to travel from Jerusalem to Bethlehem nowadays, even although he would, presumably, have an Israeli passport. It is unlikely that the wise men would get from Herod's palace to the stable behind the inn, for they were foreigners - although I suppose they might be treated as tourists.

In Europe, we have been celebrating the 20th anniversary of the demolition of the Berlin Wall, but Bethlehem - and the whole of Palestine - are now separated from Israel by a wall just as fearsome and just as divisive. It's not hard to understand why a people plagued by suicide bombers, bullets and fear should wish to create a safe space for themselves - but we do have to wonder about the long-term effects of living in such confinement.

Yet we all do it. When we are hurt, we cut ourselves off from the source of that hurt. When the pain is caused by another person, we cut ourselves off from them, walling in our hearts in anger, denial or shame. All too often, we choose never to have that hurt healed, for to address our pain is to re-open old wounds, and we don't want to take the risk that we might never heal.

But to seal off our hearts from pain is also to seal off our hearts from the possibility of love. To live a life cut off from one another is not what God hopes for us - and probably not what we want for ourselves. Every time we erect a barrier in our lives; every time we cut ourselves off from another person; we also cut ourselves off from God. Christ can no longer travel freely into our hearts and be born there, for the wall is too high and too complete.

If there is a gift we can give to others - and to ourselves - this Christmas, it is to make a breach in that wall of indifference, hate and hurt. Maybe it's time to forgive ourselves, to forgive others, to ask to be forgiven. As we saw with the Berlin Wall, once it's breached, it's not long until it is destroyed. And the party we can have at it's destruction is a very great one indeed!