FUNNY STORY

Today I attended a meeting at my church where the main topic of discussion was whether or not to hold an outdoor Christmas Pageant this coming December.  This had been an annual event for a number of years but had slowly petered out.  At its peak, it was held three or four nights in a row and had included live animals.  I guess it was quite the production but I had never witnessed or taken part in it as the last year they held the pageant was the same year our family moved here.  I will recount the story as told to me today by one of those involved.  He is not given to exaggeration and others who were present confirmed its veracity.

A donkey was borrowed from a neighbor's farm. Apparently, it was not a well behaved animal.  The young lady portraying Mary was assured though that all would be well and at the appointed time climbed atop of the donkey which took a few steps then promptly bucked her off.  Mary landed unceremoniously upside down in the snow, dress up over her head. One of the wise men (the man who shared this story) grabbed the donkey before it took off and did any more damage.  Having a farm himself and having raised horses, he related how the disciplining of large animals required swift action with a fair amount of force.  A horse (or a donkey in this case) is not going to respond to a slight smack on the backside and a telling off so he said he pulled his arm back and punched it as hard as he could in the snot which just happened to be the exact same time as the director cued the lights on what was supposed to be Mary making her way by donkey to Bethlehem.

They had double the attendance the next night.

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