For Christmas 2008 my son was five. Having made his wish list at school he asked me what I wanted for the holidays. If I could have anything I told him, it would be a creche as a reminder to keep Christ in Christmas.
When school closed for the holidays, he brought home from his Arts and Crafts class a beautiful creche made of clay which he had painted the same sunshine yellow as our apartment. He also brought, from Senior Kindgarden, a beautiful creche made of construction paper sprinkled with glitter. Both were creative and depicted the precious Christ-mas scene of a baby Jesus born in a manger.
While packing his little suitcase the night before his big holiday trip with his Dad he felt a little weepy and asked for a hug. He snuggled into my lap and we sat silently feeling the tenderness, not only of the moment I think, but of our life situation.
With a burst of inspiration he got up and said, "Wait!"
He returned with the little yellow creche which he placed gently before us on the floor where we lay, and then snuggled back into our hugfest.
Only a moment passed before he got up yet again and returned with the second creche which he placed beside the first.
As he nestled into my arms again I felt profoundly inspired:
"Son, which do you like better?"
He paused. He hemmed and hawed. He listed what he liked about each.
"It is almost impossible to choose isn't it?"
"Yeah."
He sounded torn between loyalties - I could feel him thinking of the different teachers and friends involved in the creation of this one and then the other. I could see him assessing the effort and result of each. I allowed the moment to come to its fullness before speaking.
"We don't have to choose do we? It's not a competition. We can have them both and we do!"
"We can love them both and we do! Yes!" he agreed triumphantly.
"Well son I want you to remember that Mum and Dad are like your two creches. We are very different but you can love us both. You do not ever need to choose. You can have us both and love us both and you will always find a special home in each of our hearts where love lives. Thank you for your love, son."
I could feel his knotted heart releasing. There was a joyful buoyancy now in our preparations for his trip. We would be physically separate for a few days, but a profound bond beyond that of even mother and child was enlivened. An essential knowing of Truth grew in my inner most Being and between us. It was palpable. I knew person to person, we had transcended in that moment any one specific role or relationship. I felt it with clarity. More than our personal, familial relationship, I could and would consciously intend for this child of God to feel safe; to love as freely, fully and as widely as he chooses.
Time and again Life authors Living Metaphors. This time the symbol of the creche as a human heart, where Christ consciousness; eternal Truth and Love are born. Such gifts arise spontaneously through the flesh and blood experience of our everyday situations. It is up to us to claim, witness and share these opportunities when heaven and earth are truly one.
