It was five days before Christmas, and time for our annual live Nativity scene at the church. Since I live in southern California, it didn’t feel like what most people would consider Christmastime, but that’s what we had to work with. Honestly, I would rather have temps in the 60’s than below freezing like half the country.
I met with the actors at around four o’clock in the church’s parking lot. We had already set up the wooden structure that would be the stable. A friend of a friend had a friend with a small farm, and he arrived pulling a trailer. He pulled bales of hay off and we began scattering hay all around. The men stacked some bales near the shelter and put some out for the audience to sit on. Then the farmer walked a sheep out of the trailer and tied it up to our structure. The sheep promptly started eating hay. Okay, so far so good. Next, the farmer backed a small donkey out of the trailer and led it toward us. The donkey brayed loudly, an alien sound, and stopped walking. The farmer gently pulled and spoke quietly to the donkey, but it wouldn’t budge. Finally, the beast moved over to the shelter and he tied it up.
“Is that all?” I asked the farmer.
“Yes, that was all I could provide. I hope it’s okay,” he said and held out his hand. “I’m Joel.”
“I am Serena. Nice to meet you, Joel,” I said and we shook hands. “Um, is that donkey going to be a problem?”
“I think I should dress up as a shepherd or something and stick close by. I’m not sure how she’ll react to all of this. Sometimes donkeys get agitated when separated from their friends.”
“She has friends?”
“Yes, I have two other donkeys. They are very close.”
I called to the actors to gather around, and asked someone to help Joel get a shepherd’s robe and head wrap. Everyone was in costume, and it was almost time for the show. We waited until it was fully dark, turned on the few spotlights we had, and played silent night quietly in the background. People were gathering around, and it looked like a good sized crowd had come.
The shepherds were off to one side of the shelter with the sheep. The angel appeared, an adorable eight year old girl, and declared that Christ was born in Bethlehem. The shepherds said their lines and it was going well.
Mary, with her stomach padded, and Joseph had the donkey on a rope and were walking her over to the shelter. The innkeeper came out, gave them the bad news. The donkey was behaving, thank goodness. Mary and Joseph went into the shelter, started to tie up the donkey, but Joel came up and did it for them. Mary and Joseph sat down, padding was removed discretely, and a doll that represented the baby Jesus was placed in a manger. The shepherds came and knelt down with the sheep. Then the 3 wise men came, knelt down and placed their gifts before the child. Everyone was in place, this was the Nativity scene. They were supposed to hold this pose until the end of the song. I could see Joel standing beside the donkey, petting her and talking to her in whispers.
But it was all too much for the donkey. Suddenly, she brayed long and loud, and kicked out her hind legs, all in a flash. Thank goodness no one was standing by her legs! When she brought her legs back down, she pulled back and took the shelter with her. One side collapsed out, and that side of the roof fell down, barely missing Joseph, who had dived down by the manger. The air was filled with a cacophony of screams and one curse (who was that?!!) and everyone scattered, the audience took four big steps back, and then it was finally quiet. The sheep, unbelievably calm, lay down.
I heard laughter, because everyone was okay, and then applause from the audience. People were coming up to us and telling us it was great, they enjoyed the play and was glad everyone was alright. We had punch and cookies for everyone to eat after the play, and people were enjoying the snack. Joel had captured the donkey and tied her to his trailer. A little boy came up and held a popsicle to her mouth. The donkey gently ate the treat, as gentle as a pet dog. Okay, so now the donkey decides to be sweet? Wait, did we have popsicles, too?
All in all, it was the best Nativity we have ever done. Next year, Joel is bringing all his donkeys. I’m excited!
The image depicts a closeup of a donkey’s snout. The donkey wears a green harness. We see a person’s hand, and the person is holding a popsicle and feeding it to the donkey.
#FFFC
A Little Bit of Everything, With Love 