The Nativity- A Universal Story

In which I reflect upon the appeal that the narrative of the journey to Bethlehem, the rejection by the Inn and the birth of Jesus has to those who are not necessarily Christian because it is an archetypal tale.

There are, I think, two chief elements which combine to universalise the appeal of the Nativity narrative and they are both centered on the figure of Mary. Firstly and necessarily she is pregnant. There are relatively few “journey” stories which feature pregnant women for reasons too numerous to list. One factor would be that pregnancy itself is a journey. Whether our Lady travelled to Bethlehem or not a child would have been born to her, her life would have been transformed. The external details of the trip are simply a reflection in the outer world of a development which in any event was taking place in her inner world. ….