Day 3: The Navity

Prompt: You are standing in the manger scene.  What do you hear and smell?

     "Alright, everyone, please stay together.  I don't want anyone to get lost."

     I quickly snapped another picture before I followed our tour guide.  "I can't believe the Mary and Joseph actually walked on the same ground I am walking," I thought in wonder to myself.  Bethlehem was even more amazing than I had imagined.

     "And this," our tour guide continued in her knowledgeable tone, "is believed to be the very place where Jesus was born."

     I eagerly looked beyond the people that were in fornt of me and strained to catch a glimpse of the birthsite.  It was a small, dark-looking cave, showing obvious signs of several different renovations.

     "I'll just stop here to let you ponder about this spot a few moments."

     I patiently waited for the fellow tourists in front of me to move on so I could get a close look inside the cave.  "Mary must have been awfully cramped giving birth inside of that," I thought as I gazed inside.

     I then started to imagine what it all must have been like on that night over two millenniums ago.  I'll bet the cave floor felt cold and damp.  Maybe Joseph had to start a tiny fire to keep them warm.  The smoke must have irritated them.  However, a breeze might have been blowing to help carry some of that smoke out.  A welcome breeze from God to help ease Mary's delivery.  She must have felt so scared and worried.  Would she be a good enough mother to God's Son?

     I'm sure the stench from the animals didn't help very much.  Horses, cows, and sheep, all huddled together for hours (maybe even days).  Who knows when they were last taken care of with the innkeeper so busy with all of his guests.  Maybe Joseph helped care for them as a way to show appreciation to the innkeeper for letting them stay there.

     "After Jesus was born, they probably laid Him in a manger that looked something like that," I pointed out the replica manger to myself.  Straw might be coarse and itchy to the skin, but I'm sure if was better than lying directly on the wood.  Did God keep the animals quiet during that time, to let Jesus get some sleep, or did He enjoy letting His Father's creations lull Him.  Wouldn't it be really if the animals did talk on that first Christmas, even just a few words?

    "Now, over this way we have..." My tour guide's voice snapped me to reality.  Smiling, I took one last look at the scene before I jogged to catch up with my group.