Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

I wonder if you’ve had the experience of remembering an event of some kind and being sure of important details like time, place, sequence of events, and who was there—except someone else remembers it differently? Sometimes it’s small differences. Sometimes though there are huge gaps between how you remember something and how someone else does.

Those gaps don’t invalidate the story or render it void of meaning. Those gaps point toward the different ways different people were impacted by the story.

My wife and I will recount a trip sometimes. I’ll describe some aspect then she’ll chime in with “not quite that, this” and as she settles into telling some part of it, I’ll offer some little corrections, too. In retelling the story together the differences in what we remember become part of the story, too. The act of retelling it together is almost a continuation of the journey.

It’s tempting, with a western moral, legal, and doctrinal framework to get caught in the details of the Christmas story. The latest scholarly debate that has made its way into some popular places is whether it was a cave or an inn or a stable or the lower level of a guest house. This has occupied enormous energy in some corners as the details are hashed out. In some ways that diving into the details is part of living the story again.

But I’d not want to lose sight of the whole story because some details got lost or are misremembered or have been forgotten. Laughingly hammering out details with good natured cheer when sharing the retelling of a trip, a first date, a love story, or any other story of deep meaning is part of the work of sharing the story—it’s part of going deeper together.

We are sharing a story with two thousand years of countless Christians.

Some of the details will certainly baffle or confuse or get lost. Each year I hear something new or I wonder about the mechanics or the timeline or the like. But then I remember that I am one voice amongst billions who have told and retold this story. It’s an act of love to share it again and part of that love is lending one another our memory, wisdom, and joy as we hear and tell of this joy to the world.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert