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Once
upon a time, there was a man who looked upon Christmas as a lot
of humbug.
He wasn't a Scrooge. He was a very kind and decent person,
generous to his family, upright in all his dealings with other
men. But he didn't believe all that stuff about an incarnation
which churches proclaim at Christmas. And he was too honest to
pretend that he did.
"I am truly sorry to distress you," he told his wife, who was a
faithful churchgoer, "but I simply cannot understand this claim
that God became man. It doesn't make any sense to me."
On Christmas Eve, his wife and children went to church for the
midnight service. He declined to accompany them. "I'd feel like
a hypocrite," he explained. "I'd much rather stay at home. But
I'll wait up for you."
Shortly after his family drove away in the car, snow began to
fall. He went to the window and watched the flurries getting
heavier and heavier.
"If we must have a Christmas," he reflected, "it's nice to have
a white one."
He went back to his chair by the fireside and began to read his
newspaper. A few minutes later, he was startled by a thudding
sound. It was quickly followed by another, then another. He
thought that someone must be throwing snow balls at his living
room window.
When he went to the front door to investigate, he found a flock
of birds huddled miserably in the snow. They had been caught in
the storm, and in a desperate search for shelter had tried to
fly through his window.
I can't let those poor creatures lie there and freeze, he
thought. But how can I help them?
Then he remembered the barn where the children's pony was
stabled. It would provide a warm shelter. He quickly put on his
coat and galoshes and tramped through the deepening snow to the
barn. He opened the doors wide and turned on the light. But the
birds didn't come in.
Food will bring them in, he thought. So he hurried back to the
house for bread crumbs, which he sprinkled on the snow to make a
trail into the barn. To his dismay, the birds ignored the bread
crumbs and continued to flop around helplessly in the snow. He
tried shooing them into the barn by walking around and waving
his arms. They scattered in every direction - except into the
warm, lighted barn.
"They find me a strange and terrifying creature," he said to
himself, "and I can't seem to think of any way to let them know
they can trust me. If only I could be a bird myself for a few
minutes, perhaps I could lead them to safety."
Just at that moment, the church bells began to ring. He stood
silently for a while, listening to the bells pealing the glad
tidings of Christmas. Then he sank to his knees in the snow.
"Now I understand," he whispered. "Now I see why you had to do
it." |
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