Don't blame the Innkeeper

By Curtis Dahlgren

I'll stand beside the keeper of the inn,
Challenging those who charge him with the sin
That let the Child be born within his stable.
He did the best, I say, that he was able . . .

The hostel must have reeled with raucous mirth,
Jangling the laden night with feast and dance
As Roman taxes found the dice of chance.
Only a wise man would have seen the manger
As a cradle beyond the pry of stranger.

When pompous fingers shame his guiltless deed,
I'm on his side, disciple of the need
To say he was the wisest one of all,
Providing the sanctuary of the stall.

— Ralph W. Seager, "The Wisest of the Wise"

"SOME OF OUR CHRISTMAS CUSTOMS ARE AS SPIRITUALLY VALUABLE AS A SECOND-HAND COFFIN. They are broken cisterns which no longer hold the sweet waters of eternal life. They may seem tinsel-bright, but they lack depth. A metropolitan store posted a sign reading, 'We have no Christmas greeting cards left, only religious ones' . . .

"Many who sing the beautiful carols of this season have no real knowledge of Christ. Or their acquaintance with Him is casual, or their attitude is diffident [suspicious and affected] . . .

"Even more pathetic are those persons who, once having loved Christ, have permitted their ardor to cool. They do nothing to nurture and sustain their friendship with the one true and eternal Friend."

Disclaimer: This author does not believe that that "Friend" was born on the winter solstice, nor 3 1/2 days later, but the preceding poem and quotations are from When Christmas Came to Bethlehem, by Charles Allen and Charles Wallis (Revell, 1963), and they do make a point. Even the Freedom From Religion people must be tempted to take time out from their gloating to shake their finger at that famous Innkeeper (who must have been a "heartless conservative with no regard for the homeless").

A) Mary and Joseph weren't "homeless," and -
B) You can't find one scripture where they or anyone else thought negatively of the Innkeeper.

Nevertheless, writers over the last 2,000 years have often castigated him, or the bartender, or the bouncer, or someone, for "turning Mary and Joseph out into the cold." Point C is: it wasn't as cold there as it is here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this morning (10 below zero), and point D is:

"Learning of the circumstances, Joseph was humbly grateful for the friendly hand that had led him to the stable. [and point E:]

"Our scorn, if we must be scornful, should be directed toward those who, in later years and even nowadays, turn the Lord of life from their homes and hearts." [ibid] "PRICELESS"!

Not the Christ in the manger,
Not the Christ on the Cross;
But the Christ in the soul,
When all but love is lost.
— Katherine Lee Bates

Point F: As a farm boy, I also have to laugh a bit about modern city people who don't even know what a MANGER is! Many of them think that that word referred to the stable, the building itself! If YOU don't even know what a manger is, go look it up! I look into an old-fashioned dictionary several times a day on the average, but I'm not going to do ALL the work for you (it occurs to me that one of the problems with the computer generation is that they've never once looked inside an old 2-volume set of Webster's works — and it's an "AWESOME" experience)!

While I'm at it, borrowing liberally from other people's words, I spent a couple of hours in the middle of the night listening to a Michael Savage "Encore," and here are a few of the best of the best lines:

• How can we depend on our teenagers to take care of our Social Security; they can't even find their belts, so how can they even take care of themselves?
  
  
• The Bible belt or the libel belt?
  
  
• In one generation, we've gone from Rosie the riveter to [just plain] Rosie.
  
  
• No stocks, no pillories, no shame.
  
  
• When you violate your own soul on a regular basis, it's not the act itself that twists your mind, it's the combination of the acts and your company.
  
  
• They hate America because they see the nation as an authority figure that must be defied like their parents; it's an immature world-view.
  
  
• They think that love of the world, not country, is everything; this will lead to a world-wide disaster.
  
  
• Liberals automatically side with the Arabs/Muslims because they see it as another way to defy their country and Christianity.
  
  
• 9/11 was the first day of World War III
  
  
• The house is on fire; we've been penetrated by the enemy and they're using democracy to destroy democracy; in the guise of "free speech" they destroy Free Speech.
  
  

I can't top that. Enough said, but --------

P.S. JUST ONE MORE THING! I was going to say something about "Happy New Year," and that reminded me of a story I heard. One New Year's Eve, as a family was counting down the seconds to midnight, their grandfather clock got stuck on the "GONG" mode, and when the little boy counted the 13th gong, he said:

"MOTHER, IT'S LATER THAN IT'S EVER BEEN BEFORE!"

Yes it is, isn't it? It is quite LATE, and we need "the wisest of the wise" right now.

AMEN?

© Curtis Dahlgren