What does the birth of Jesus mean for us today in a time when our mother earth is groaning with pain because of the way we have abused her?
One of the rituals related to the birthing of a child is the burying of the umbilical cord. The umbilical cord connects the foetus to the mother’s placenta, bringing the child nourishment.
The umbilical cord also carries great, symbolic meaning. Throughout history, all over the world, rituals have accompanied the disposal of the umbilical cord after it falls from the baby’s body.
Among the Igbo people of Nigeria, a mother buries the umbilical cord at the foot of a young tree, the more fruitful, the better.
The chosen palm tree, banana, or breadfruit, will become the child’s tree, and Igbo beliefs hold that it will then give as many fruits as the child has successes throughout his life. It is also a way to bind the child to the earth, and to that special place in his community.
In some parts of Mexico, the umbilical cord is also buried at the foot of a tree as a way to attach the child to his/her village and to the earth.
Likewise, Native Americans of several tribes would bury the umbilical cord inside the Sacred Four Corners of their land.
In the iTaukei (indigenous Fijian) culture, the umbilical cord is buried with a fruit tree. In some iTaukei tribes, the female umbilical cord is thrown into the sea while a male’s umbilical cord is buried with a fruit tree.
Elders would make this remark when a child is too active: “It looks like this kid’s umbilical cord was not buried.”
The ritual communicates how life is transferred from the biological mother to mother earth.
After birth, the child will be sustained by mother earth.
The burying of the umbilical cord symbolises the connectedness of human life to the source of life, that is, our biological mother and mother earth.
If Jesus was born of an iTaukei woman, his umbilical cord would have been buried with a coconut.
The burying of the umbilical cord reminds us that we draw life from our biological mother as well as from our mother earth.
The ritual tells us that we are part of the earth and creation.
The early Christian writers had the awareness that Jesus Christ cannot be limited to the Jesus who was born in Nazareth.
They located Jesus in broader context of human history and creation. Mathew’s gospel locates Jesus back to Abraham, father of the Hebrew people.
Luke views the life of Jesus in the background human history beginning with Adam.
John locates the origins of Jesus the Christ back into the mystery of God: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God… and the Word was made flesh.”
St Paul believes that Jesus Christ has to do with the mystery of creation.
Jesus Christ the Word made flesh was with God and through him all things came to be.
To believe in Jesus is to believe in the “one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things are and through whom we exist”. (1Cor 8:6)
The Gospels and St Paul remind us that Jesus’ birth and life is not limited to the stable at Bethlehem, but that he is present in all of creation.
Therefore, Christmas is not only a time to reflect on the Jesus born in Bethlehem but also to see Jesus present in the whole of creation. Creation is filled with the presence of God.
May the Christmas season be a time of re-weaving our relationships with God, families and with mother earth.
Have a blessed and peaceful Christmas.
* Archbishop Peter Loy Chong is the head of the local Catholic Church. The views expressed are his and not of this newspaper.
