I have traveled on my feet; they have been my transport throughout my whole life and I have tried to use them well. My wife and I were told that we must journey to Bethlehem in order to pay our taxes. I placed Mary, on a donkey’s back and we made our way towards Bethlehem, the appointed city. Of course the journey was difficult. Every journey is difficult for a woman who is pregnant. Mary and I both had traveled as far as we dared in a single day so, when evening arrived, we decided to give ourselves over to a pause in this journey. So many pilgrimages had been made that day. The night itself was born of weariness, as the day had stressful. The road had been filled with rocks and holes just waiting for a blind man to approach. My poor wife was attempting to make the best of it, but I could tell poor Mary, solemn Mary, anxious Mary was burdened by more than her weight. She carried the weight of expectation in her soul and flesh. She had told me that the mystery of this life had spoken to her in words she could comprehend, about the coming of the child she was to give birth to. We kept the wonder of confidence about what was to take place to ourselves.
The approach of evening was unusual to us, it was as if it was happening for the very first time. We in our astonishment thought it was time that we looked for lodgings, and as night drew closer, we inquired as Time and Inn presented itself to us. We inquired of every Inn we thought might render lodgings to us. Finally, we encountered an Inn Keeper who was willing to allow us to take rest in his stable. He said: This is all that I have available. You will have to share it with the cows and sheep, with the camels and the animal you are traveling with. We hastily accepted. We soon found ourselves in the company of Shepherds who had watched their flocks all day long and needed rest themselves. The conversation was comforting and enlightening. Soon there was more. Inn Keeper offered us quilts and blankets with which to keep our bodies safe from the chill of the night. When we fell asleep on the hay and straw we found an even quieter comfort This was a kindness we would long remember; when we were home again because that also would warm our lives, remind us of how generous people might be for we were comforted in that foreign place as we waited for our child to be born.
The host had provided for us as best he could. The Shepherds had given us the comfort of their conversation. The darkness gave us no harm, for the quiet itself was comforting. How were we to know that Three Kings of royal birth would appear mysteriously in our presence? They were there to give gifts to our child who we had laid in the manger the Inn Keeper had given us. The night had a holiness about it that would remain with us for the rest of our lives. The Kings said: Each of us have been told of the coming of your child and we have each journeyed our several ways to be a part of this event. We have no doubt that it will change the entire world for better or worst.
The darkness had showered blessings on us all for when the kings said they would depart each to his own way and return to their own country before they departed they heard as we did the voices in the heavens singing the praises of our newborn and praising the night as if it too was holy. This is what we all heard. Blessed is he born this night for the souls and salvation of all mankind. And this is my tale.