The Nativity Left Right Game

Long ago, when Caesar Augustus ruled, an order went out that everyone had to be counted, each family in its own hometown. So Joseph the carpenter and Mary, who was expecting a baby very soon, left Nazareth in Galilee and set out for Bethlehem. Joseph walked on the right. Mary rode on the left, on a donkey. (The Bible never actually mentions the donkey, but every Christmas pageant does, so he gets to come along.)

It was a long trip, days of walking. The road turned left around the hills and right along the valleys, left and right and left again, and every evening Joseph asked Mary if she was all right. Every evening she said yes. She was being kind. She was very tired.

When they finally reached Bethlehem, the town was packed, because everyone with family roots there had come back to be counted. Joseph knocked on a door on the right. No room. He tried a door on the left. No room. He tried the inn right in the middle of town, and the innkeeper was shaking his head before Joseph finished asking.

But there was a place where the animals were kept. It wasn't much. There was straw on the floor, a cow on the left, a few sheep on the right, and a feeding trough in the corner. And that night, right there among the animals, Mary's baby was born. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger, and they named him Jesus.

Out in the fields nearby, shepherds were keeping watch over their flocks. One shepherd was counting the sheep on the left. Another was counting the sheep on the right. They kept getting different numbers, which happens with sheep.

Then, right out of the dark, an angel of the Lord appeared, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them, and the shepherds were terrified. The ones on the left fell flat. The ones on the right fell flat. Even the sheep looked nervous. And the angel spoke right to them:

"Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger."

And suddenly the sky was full. Angels on the left, angels on the right, more angels than anyone could count (and these were people who counted for a living), all praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

When the angels had gone, the shepherds looked at each other. Then they left. They left the fire, they left the hillside, and they ran into Bethlehem. (Somebody presumably stayed with the sheep. The Bible doesn't say who. It was probably the youngest.) They turned left at the well and left again at the gate, and they checked every stable until they found the right one.

And there he was, just as the angel had said. A baby, lying in a manger, with Mary on his left and Joseph on his right. The shepherds told them everything: the angel, the light, the singing. Then they went back to their fields praising God and telling everyone they passed, left and right. Mary didn't say much. The Bible says she kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Some time later, wise men from the East left home and came looking for the child. They had followed a star. They turned right into Jerusalem to ask King Herod for directions, which was a mistake, because Herod was not the kind of king who wanted a new king around. He told them to find the child and then come right back and report. They said they would.

The star went on ahead of them, and they followed it, left through the hills and right along the road, until it stopped right over the house where the child was. They knelt down. They opened their treasures: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Three gifts, which is why everyone assumes there were three wise men. The Bible never gives a number.)

Then God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they left for home another way. They went left where Herod expected right, and right where he expected left, and Herod never saw them again.

Gifts were part of the very first Christmas, and they're part of ours. So whatever is in your hands right now, that one is yours to keep. That's the end of the story. Merry Christmas, and God bless you.