Double~take | an old, old story

… with no bragging rights

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ver the last month I made a real effort to re-read the Christmas story. It gets ripped to shreds every December as everyone uses it to bat away at the all-engulfing consumerism and keep the real reason for Christmas alive. Unfortunately, it was there just as I remembered it, and I didn’t have to read to know about angels and shepherds and trips to Bethlehem. The downside to familiarity…

So I rented “The Nativity” this week (the one with Keisha Castle-Hughes). I had been holding out for ages, but at a Christmas breakup I went to, some smart alec found a copy of it amidst some DVD’s and asked “Hey guys! How does this one finish?” Funny, funny…

But cheers to a change in genre - after completely switching off during the more disgustingly “westernised” parts of the storyline, I came back to watch Mary return to her stunned fiancé after her visit to Elisabeth… very pregnant… I am a complete wimp when it comes to dramatic tension. I hit pause and left the room rather than hide behind the couch and hum with my fingers in my ears.

So much for knowing how the story ends… I was almost worried they were going to stone her… almost.

I know it’s obvious, but everyone always goes on about Mary being blessed to have this child and all - nothing about the problems inherent in God doing the impossible and only telling Mary… Joseph only got the nod after he decided not to disgrace Mary publicly, and anyone else only had their word to go on. At least with a reputation smeared like that, no one was going to go around bragging about being parents to the Messiah.

Anyway, now that I have a handle on Christmas, I should probably get caught-up on resolutions or something.

Double~take appears every Saturday on theRubicon. Find past Double~take posts and a bio of Stephanie Hung here.

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