Journey

Well the Nauru journey is over, and I am now settling back in to home.

As I think about journeys, and travel in general, I am thinking of the Christmas story. What sort of journey would Mary and Joseph experienced as they headed from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Trying to take this trip on dodgy roads, while heavily pregnant, is unimaginable. It was not by choice - the government had determined that this was the place they would be processed, much in the same way that asylum seekers have no choice in where our government decides they should be processed.

It was not the end of the travel experience for Mary of Joseph either. They were forced to flee their homeland as refugees and seek asylum in Egypt to avoid the infanticide of Herod. For at least two years they were unable to rely on the protection of their homeland - in fact it was government sponsored terror that kept them away.

Isn't it amazing how often the stories of Christ interact with our own. He has been there/ done that (whatever 'that' is). He has seen the best and worst of humanity as one of us.

As we each journey toward Christmas 2012, I pray that we will be able to identify each of the areas in which the Christmas story interacts with our own.