A couple of weeks ago, I decided to head over to Hollywood and check out some of the sights, like Grauman’s Chinese Theater and the Hollywood Walk of Fame that runs up and down Hollywood Boulevard. After parking, I made my way over to some of these historical sights along Hollywood Boulevard. I quickly realized that this strip of land was certainly not what it once was. Walking up and down Hollywood Boulevard, there were tons of vacant storefronts, lots of homeless people, and the smell of marijuana everywhere. Outside of the homeless, there weren’t many people or signs of life. On my way back to where I had parked, I noticed that a red carpet for some sort of movie premiere was being set up just outside Jimmy Kimmel Live and the El Capitan Theater. I must confess that I can’t remember what the premiere was for, but I went over to see the setup on the south side of Hollywood Boulevard. When I got over to that side of the street, what struck me was the position of the backdrop to the red carpet, how it blocked the north side of the street with its less-than-appealing visuals. And then a couple of days later, I saw some footage of a movie premiere for Zootopia 2 at the El Capitan, and what struck me, seeing it on TV, was how well they blocked out Hollywood Boulevard and just made it all seem so glamorous and special. When behind it, there were probably some sketchy characters walking by, especially since it was the evening. People, images, and scenes that are real, but were blocked out for another world.
To me, it was a powerful image and a stark contrast between the world created for us to consume and the world that actually exists. These days, numerous institutions, individuals, parties, ideologies, and apps are vying for our attention and seeking to convince us that their worldview, perspective, news feed, or reporting is the truth and the prism by which we should see and experience the world around us. It’s as if we are consistently being inundated with messaging that seeks to deny or invalidate the world right in front of us. Messages or messengers that tell us:
“No, don’t believe things are rough right now, look at those numbers that say the economy is good. Unending growth is always good. Trust the market and its priests, Fink and Diamond.”
“No, don’t listen to yourself that something feels off about the present state of things; simply look to the beautiful ones who have succeeded and manifested.”
“No, there is no need to question what is taken for granted; the experts are in control of engineering and making life more efficient and convenient.”
“No, don’t look beyond the red carpet, everything is beautiful in Hollywood.”
…because we are being inundated away from our present reality.
In some ways, the Christmas story found in Luke’s Gospel was intended to give its audience a break from the nonsense of empire and the reality it sought to perpetuate amid the people’s everyday reality. Known for its brutality in smashing its enemies, Rome publicly claimed to bring true peace and prosperity. A hard sell to a Galilean population, filled with people like Mary and Joseph who traveled along roads where their crucified countrymen hung. Known for shrewdness, ambition, and cunning ways, Octavian Caesar became Rome’s first Emperor Augustic. Publicly claimed as the Savior of the civilized world, benevolent and just, he was anything but for a peasant population that lived a subsistence life. This was what Rome wanted their subjects to believe. Whether it was true or not was immaterial; whether it was believed and emphasized emphatically is what mattered. Amid this comes Luke, who claims otherwise.
Luke draws upon the tradition of the Israelites instead. He puts at the center of his story women, like the Egyptian midwives of old – Elizabeth and Mary. An old barren woman and a young girl with no life experience are the ones who bring forth from their wombs the forerunner, John, and the anointed one and savior, Jesus of Nazareth. And there’s no sort of bait and switch here or some sort of cover for the less-than-ugly aspects of the story. Joseph and Mary are peasants traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem due to a census and because Mary was perceived as an adulteress. They travel because they have to, not because they want to. Law and life compel them. There’s no room for them, certainly, such would have been made if they were truly important in the eyes of others. Instead, Jesus will be born among animals and in their room, no less, and placed to sleep in their feeding trough. The first to visit him will be shepherds, hardly impressive first visitors. Rather than put a cover on these things or block us from seeing them, Luke leaves them right there out in the open for us to hear, to read, to see, to imagine.
Merry Christmas.
A Foolish Way 