From Mr David Redrobe
Sir, - As St Martin-in-the-Fields already has a naked,
uncircumcised, Infant Jesus, fast asleep, with the words, "He lived
among us" carved on to the plinth - a good illustration of the
incarnation, which presumably influences the "Christ in the midst"
ministry of St Martin's - surely the "homeless Jesus" on a church
bench is an extension of that (News,
19 September)?
It would be a good idea to have a referendum among the poor and
homeless who rely on the church, to ask what they think. They
obviously could not request to be locked in the church with the
Christ, but maybe they would love to sleep next to him outside,
comfortable with the incarnational realisation that, after all, "He
lives among us."
The referendum would perhaps be more significant than the
church's "whole-site policy that doesn't allow people to lie down
on our site".
When Christ comes again, he had better watch where he lays his
head.
DAVID REDROBE
St Andrew's Vicarage
28 South Cliff Road
Kirton in Lindsey
Nr Gainsborough DN21 4NR