Richard Littledale's
Views on the News: December 1999

On being read by the story

"That's the trouble with Christmas, always the same boring stories"

- at least that was the view of one disenchanted child on leaving a carol service to which his well meaning parents had taken him. To a certain extent I am forced to agree with him. As a Christian minister, I am obliged to re-tell the Christmas story every year as creatively as I can, and yet without deviating from it.

Any freshness which I find in my approach owes more to the impact of the story on me than mine on the story.

I have great admiration for those who find a new angle in the story and succeed in portraying it without detracting from the source. In 1980 a beautiful short story was written about the son of a Roman official coming into contact with Mary and Joseph. The boy is so overcome by the encounter that he gives away all the food which he has just bought for his own family. On his return to the house his powerful father demands to know the truth about what has really happened to the food:

"Listen to me carefully, my son. We were born Romans, born to rule the world because our laws are tried and tested and have always been based on complete integrity. Romans never lie, that is our strength and the weakness of our enemies. That is why we rule while others are willing to be ruled, and as long as that is so, the Roman empire will never fall."

What is more in question is whether the story has captured his spirit. The writer of the story, entitled The First Miracle, is one Jeffrey Archer. He may have read the story, but has the story read him?

Those who share the disenchanted child's modern cynicism would do well to let the "old boring story" read them this year. The results could be a pleasant surprise.