Nativity

There is no point in letting the facts spoil a good story.I will sing the old Christmas hymns again this year with my fingers crossed, because of course they contain ideas about Jesus the Christ and his coming among us that cannot possibly be verified or justified. As with many things about the nativity record in the Bible,  historical credibility is sparse. Very few clergy 'believe' the literal truth of a star, a stable, a virgin birth. But the story is so charming, and sits nicely on Christmas cards, and in children's presentations, that it would be a shame to argue about it. We love to hear the story every year. It is the ultimate 'repeat' about which we never tire, as successive generations learn and celebrate it. As a church minister I once re-wrote two or three of these familiar songs, thinking to make them more 'believable. I was pleased with them, but there was a strong pew-based revolt, because people in the church did not want to give up the virgin birth, swathing bands, or even, oddly, children 'all in white waiting around.' I surrendered, and will again join the choir singing the tuneful mythologies of Christmas with all the other carol addicts. We like things to be the same at Christmas. It is great to see that of 656 films being offered on TV during three big days only 13 will be new. It was Browning's 'wise thrush' who sang his song twice over to 'recapture his first fine careless rapture'  Just so: we like repeats. We may have heard it all before, but as Humphrey Bogart requested of the night club piantist in Casablanca, 'play it again, Sam'.