Sunday, December 23, 2007

Envisioning the Christmas story

Over the last week I have heard a lot of people telling what they envision when they think about certain aspects of the Christmas story. Some have been pretty neat to envision, others have been completely different from what I envision.

One I have heard is of the angles that brought the good news to the shepherds. This person is picturing the angles at the edge of heaven, peering down on the earth, then running back to God and asking "Is it time?" The angels understanding what is going on, so excited to be the chosen host to come and proclaim the messiah for the first time. Then the peer go peer down on the earth again, wait as long as they can stand it, then run back to God again and once again ask "Is it time yet?" Such a neat picture.

Another is of the innkeeper. This man being gruff, somewhat disheveled just peeking out the door and roughly saying "There are no rooms. Go away!" Mary and Joseph begging, pleading for somewhere and him motioning with his head "You can stay there, in the barn. Take your donkey and get out of here."

I don't see the innkeeper this way. I pictured more of someone who offered what little he had. Humbly saying "I'm sorry. All I have is the barn, but there is a corner that is pretty clean, and it is warm. That is the best I can possibly do."

I wonder how it all really went down.

No comments: