SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2022 - STORY OF THE INNKEEPER.

 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2022, STORY

Today is Christmas Eve.  According to tradition, Jesus was born tonight some 2000 years ago.  (Was he born at midnight?) 

So, some fiction for today.

*****

Reuben was harassed.  He was a little put out by Julius Caesar that “all the world should be enrolled” (or “all the world should be taxed”).  He did a reasonable business as an innkeeper in Bethlehem - but all of these people came to Bethlehem because they were of the family of King David.  Seemingly King David had 20 children.  David’s father, Jesse, supposedly had 8 children.  David’s son, King Solomon, had four children (but 700 wives)?  

So being of the family of King David was significant. So, all these people were in town to get counted or enrolled or taxes, but Reuben wasn’t quite sure.  

And, Bethlehem wasn’t that big of a town - so there was only one inn. It was about 5 miles to Jerusalem - and most business travelers would go to Jerusalem to find an inn.  In fact, some of the descendants of King David did stay overnight in Jerusalem and then walked the 5 miles to Bethlehem - taking about an hour and one-half, and then got enrolled and returned to Jerusalem and to their current living place.  

Reuben’s inn had twelve rooms and two outhouses behind the inn for the toilet.  And, now December 24th, all the rooms were booked.  And, then comes this straggler and his very pregnant wife who needs a room.  Sorry friends - we don’t have rooms.  

The couple took the news fairly well, the man didn’t yell and scream and throw a fit, but Reuben, who had five children, could tell that the man’s wife was going to have her baby any time - maybe even any minute!!!  He had some aides at the inn, and sent two of the boys to houses that might work - Lemuel and Deborah might have room, Azariah and Miriam might have room - but the boys came back saying “No”.  For one reason or another, the older couples didn’t want strangers in their house - and knowing the mess of newborns, they didn’t want to be in a maternity ward.

“Well”, said Reuben to the couple. “I think we can arrange a space in the stable for this couple to sleep.  There was an empty stall.  The innkeeper had his boys clean it up, muck it out, and put in fresh straw.  The day was quickly turning into night, and the heat of the day was also quickly turning into a cold night.

Reuben asked the boys to bring some fresh blankets, and they found two old chairs and a mattress that they put on the floor.  The couple gladly took over the space, but the wife was now complaining of a fierce backache.  “Oh oh”, thought Reuben.

Reuben sent one of the boys to fetch a midwife.  He asked the other boys to boil some water as there would soon need to be some cleaning after the birth.  He asked his wife, Rebecca, for clean clothes and one of the boys to fetch a clean hay feeder.  The baby would need some place to sleep, so Reuben was now with Rebecca and the community midwife helping set up for birth.  

There was just something about the mother.  Reuben was at a loss for words, unusual for him.  The mother just glowed in the oncoming dark, like she had swallowed a candle.  Reuben had to suppress a laugh - yes, she swallowed a candle!!  Little chance of that!!!

Rebecca and the aides helped get things ready.  

Tamra, the midwife, had the woman lie on her back.  With Rebecca’s help, Tamra helped undress the woman and prepare her for delivery.  The woman was breathing hard and Tamra was timing her contractions.  Anytime now.  Tamra turned to see if there were swaddling clothes and turned back.

But, while Tamra turned her head, the woman had already delivered - quickly and fairly quietly - no screaming.  Boom - and there was the baby. Tamra had to quickly grab the child - a boy.  Slapping the boy on his back, he began to cry to clear his lungs.  Tamra was sure she was imagining it - it wasn’t quite an angry scream like every other baby she had helped deliver, but crying almost with a subtle laugh.  

And, to Tamra’s amazement, the child glowed even more than the mother!!  Had they been eating a diet of fireflies?  Why were these two so light-filled?  

Tamra, the midwife, and Rebecca, Reuben’s wife, cleaned up the lady and the baby. They wrapped the baby in some of the blankets, and also wrapped the mother in blankets.  The husband had been shooed away during the delivery but was back to his wife and newborn son.  

Reuben had had babies delivered in his inn before, but this was the first time the baby was in the stable!!  And, the first time the baby and the mother glowed.  The father didn’t have the same aura around him.  He seemed to be nice.  

*****

Well, the delivery was over.  The mother thanked Tamra and Rebecca and Reuben for their help.  The mother was settling in, with the baby on her chest.  And, soon the mother, the baby, and the father were asleep under blankets in the barn.  Tamra and Rebecca were done with the cleanup and left, and Reuben went back to the inn.  All was calm and all was bright.  He fell asleep quickly.

He woke up a while later as one of the stable boys came to get him.  There was a crowd - maybe fifty, maybe one-hundred men were milling around looking for the baby.

Reuben had no idea why many men should be looking for the baby, but he was up quickly and off to the stable.  

Yes, these were shepherds.  And they were quietly kneeling and sitting on the dirt of the stable looking at the baby and the mother.  Reuben had absolutely no idea why a group of shepherds was there adoring the baby and mother.  Was the father some head of a shepherd group and these were his employees?  That didn’t seem to be the case.  

Reuben caught the eye of one of the shepherds and motioned him over and they walked away from the baby and mother to talk.

The shepherd, Lemuel, told Reuben a wild tale of how angels glowing in the sky woke the shepherds in the fields as they watched their sheep.  The angels said that a baby was born that night that was to be the long-awaited Messiah.  So, not knowing what else to do, the shepherds walked into Bethlehem and the angels showed them the stable with the glow of the child and the mother, they were in awe and knelt.  Reuben would have thought that Lemuel was making this all up, but he was so sure about his story.

Some of the shepherds were married and had been around for the birth of their children, but the younger shepherds were rapt in their awe for this baby - this baby who glowed with a heavenly light.

Probably an hour - maybe longer - the shepherds watched the baby.  The baby was sometimes sleeping in his mother’s arms, and sometimes awake.  The mother fed him once and slid his mouth under her blanket so the baby could nurse.  

One or two of the shepherds talked with the father, and some even talked with the mother, saying such things as “you are so blessed”, and “May God continue to surround you with His love”.

Then maybe a pair at a time, they slipped away back into the night and back to the fields - maybe even the same fields that a young David watched sheep so many years ago.

When the last of the shepherds left. Reuben said good night to the mother and father and kissed the sleeping baby on the top of his head.  

Reuben’s brain was spinning as he dropped back asleep quickly and dreamed of brilliant stars and angels.

*****

A day later, one of the couples in the inn left after registering, and the innkeeper moved the couple with their baby into a room in the inn.  

Reuben, the innkeeper, finally learned the couple’s names Mary, and Joseph.

The family stayed in Bethlehem for a while - and the magi visited them in Bethlehem.

*****

Epilogue

Some thirty years later, Reuben had gone blind.  One of his acquaintances suggested meeting up with some prophet that was roaming around Judah.  Reuben had heard of Jesus, but only vaguely - some kind of prophet that did miracles.  It wasn’t going to work.  Blindness isn’t the same as maybe a broken arm.  

A guide took ten of them to meet this prophet in Bethlehem square.  But, there was a warmth in Reuben’s body as they got closer.  It was a pleasant warmness.  He first heard a voice saying “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  But, then the voice stopped and called out, “Please make room for my friend Reuben”.  Reuben wasn’t an uncommon name so he stood still, but then somebody grabbed his hand and led him forward.

The voice said, ``Reuben, my friend, how nice to see you again.” Reuben couldn’t place the voice or when he met a prophet before.  

The voice continued, loud enough for all to hear. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.  When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in? ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 

The voice said, “Reuben, you invited my family into the stable at your inn many years ago.  It was the night I was born.”.

Some hands touched his face and instantly Reuben saw again.  The man hugged him and he hugged back.  And Reuben knew he had met the Messiah - again!!

 

*****

Okay, my fictional story of the innkeeper and the shepherds.
  

LOVE WINS!!

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, DECEMBER 24, 2022