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	December 2002				Three wise men? Three shepherds? We're not sure!
		Born in North Hobart Bishop's reflection Geographically transposed with the author's kind permission, from Strategies for Growing Church by Alan Nichols. I think this telling of the wonderful story really hits the mark.
			The Australian Government decided to celebrate the new millennium by having every Australian family return to the spot where the father of the household was born, or where they first arrived in the country. Imagine the nearest international airport where all the migrants first arrived, and the crowds that would gather. A young man Joe and his partner Mary had to travel back to North Hobart from Circular Head where they were living, because Joe was born there 35 years ago in a private hospital. Late one night they drove from the North West Coast in a beat-up old Holden. When they got to Hobart all the hotels and motels were full, because everyone was on the move. Smells By midnight they were getting desperate, so Joe parked the car and went into the old Empire Hotel in Elizabeth Street and asked the barman whether there was any possibility of a room for the night. He said there was no room, not even in the backpackers' hostel, and Joe showed disappointment. 'My partner is very pregnant,' he said, ' and the baby is due in the next week or so.' The hotel manager overheard, and felt pity on them, so he said they could use the garage out the back. 'It smells of oil and petrol,' he said, 'but there's a few blankets there, and it might be better than being out in the streets.' So Joe took Mary to the garage and they settled down for the night. Amplified At 2 a.m. three astrologers came up from East Cygnet, one with crystals, one with aromatherapy, and one with amethysts. They arrived at the garage just as the baby was being born. And they presented their gifts. Just then, as if amplified from the TCA on the Domain or maybe from Salamanca Place, a song could be clearly heard, 'Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born king.' People all over Hobart woke up, puzzled at the sound. Crowded Around that time, four young women boarded a tourist bus in the Eastlands Bus Mall and said in unison to the crowded bus, 'Don't worry. We have good news for you. A child is born today in this town who is going to be a great leader - full of integrity, moral principle and vision. And he will save us all - from ourselves, from violence, from envy and from selfishness.' Around that time, an old man was in the cathedral in the city, praying as he prepared the church for early morning service. He heard that the baby had been born who would save the world, and he knelt at the altar and prayed: 'Lord, I can die happy now. Your son has come into the world.' This birth, in a garage at the back of a local hotel, was not the lead item in the evening TV news. It did not appear on the Internet. And only a few people up the Coast and Midlands knew anything about it and wondered. But in world history it was the biggest thing ever to happen. We changed our calendars because of it. We celebrated the millennium because of it. All over the world, Christmas is celebrated because of it. It's all because it's Jesus' birthday.