Fred the Christmas Donkey
By Fr. Kevin
Now the story of Fred the Christmas Donkey does not begin with Fred, nor will it end with Fred. Fred was descended from a long line of donkeys but his family had fallen on hard times. It seems that Fred’s great, great, great, great, grandfather had been the very noble beast that King David had ridden to Jerusalem , and also had ridden to war. And then there was Fred’s great, great, great uncle that Absalom had been riding when his hair got caught in the branches of a tree. Absalom was put to death for leading a revolt against his father King David. So, Fred’s family history, even though very grand, had a spot on it. With each generation there was the hope that one of the donkeys would recover the family pride and standing in the community of donkeys.
Fred grew up just outside of Nazareth. He frolicked in the fields with the sheep and goats and looked forward to the day that he could pull the plow or turn the wheel that ground the grain into flour or maybe even be one of the protectors of the herd. But he was just a little donkey and for some reason did not seem to grow as quickly as the other donkeys, and the other donkeys made fun of him and teased him, since he was so small.
So day after day nobody really paid attention to poor little Fred. Some days the children would come and ride him and because he was lonely he would always let them ride on him. Most of the other donkeys we too important to let the children ride on them, they had better things to do.
Then one day, there was strange news in the town. Caesar Augustus, the Emperor, wanted a census done and people would have to return to their hometowns to be registered. Many of the people were upset. Some were going to have to travel fifty miles or a hundred miles to their hometowns. Everyone in Nazareth was very worried. How were they going to be able to leave their homes just to go and be registered?
Now in the town there was a young couple, Joseph and Mary, betrothed to each other, and Mary was pregnant and very close to giving birth to her first child. They were going to have to travel all the way to Bethlehem, ninety miles away. There was no way that Mary could walk that far. So the couple looked for someone they could travel with, may be someone had a cart Mary could ride on. But no one was going to Bethlehem. The couple was very sad and very worried. They had to go but how could they get there? The journey was very long.
Then one of the farmers suggested that maybe Mary could ride one of his donkeys and the Joseph could walk beside her. Mary looked at all the donkeys and they all looked very big, except for Fred. Mary recognized, Fred, Mary knew Fred, she had ridden on him before. And so they asked the farmer if they could buy Fred so she might ride him to Bethlehem.
The farmer would not take any money for Fred. He was small and of not much use around the farm and so the farmer was happy to see him go. So off Fred went with the couple, carrying carefully the pregnant mother on the journey to Bethlehem. It was a long journey. Now donkeys can walk about sixty miles in a day but the husband could only walk about twenty-five miles in a day, so the trip was going to take them about four or five days.
Fred liked carrying this Mary. She seemed so happy about becoming a mother and she seemed so at peace. The husband, Joseph, he also seemed happy but he also seemed worried about Mary’s health. So they went slowly and stopped more often than normal but soon Bethlehem was in sight.
Now it seems that there were lots of people going to Bethlehem. As they got closer, they saw more and more people and they began to get worried. Joseph did not have any relatives in Bethlehem any more so they worried about where they might stay. Bethlehem was a little town of about five hundred people, so there should be some inns in the town with room available.
It was late in the day when Mary and Joseph and Fred arrived in Bethlehem and they started asking at the inns if there was room for them. They had almost walked through the entire town and had found no room when they came to one last inn. This inn also had no room for them but the inn keeper offered them a place in his stable. The sable was cut out of the rocks in the hill behind the inn and the animals would provide some warmth for them through the night. In despair they accepted the inn keeper’s offer and settled down in the stable. There was a cow in the stable. Fred never got her name, and she did not like company. There was also a rooster and a couple of chickens and a few little mice hiding in the straw, but the stable was warm. The inn keeper had given Mary and Joseph some bread and some cheese and Fred, well, he had fresh hay to chew on and a salt lick in the corner.
As the night grew longer, Mary was becoming uncomfortable and keeping every one awake. The cow began to complain about these noisy people, and the mice hid deeper in the straw, but Fred, Fred was concerned. His young friend seemed to be in some kind of pain. As the night wore on, Joseph began to look even more worried and in the middle of the night, a baby boy was born. All the animals, even the cow, gathered close to get a look and they all breathed a little deeper wanting to keep the baby warm.
Then strange things began to happen. Angels appeared, singing their hearts out and praising God on high, but no one in the town seemed to notice. Then a bunch of shepherds appeared and with the shepherds came this little boy banging on his drum. It made the baby smile and laugh, but again no one in the town seemed to notice.
But Fred noticed. And Fred remembered.His great, great, great, great grandfather had carried a king and so had he.
Fred grew up just outside of Nazareth. He frolicked in the fields with the sheep and goats and looked forward to the day that he could pull the plow or turn the wheel that ground the grain into flour or maybe even be one of the protectors of the herd. But he was just a little donkey and for some reason did not seem to grow as quickly as the other donkeys, and the other donkeys made fun of him and teased him, since he was so small.
So day after day nobody really paid attention to poor little Fred. Some days the children would come and ride him and because he was lonely he would always let them ride on him. Most of the other donkeys we too important to let the children ride on them, they had better things to do.
Then one day, there was strange news in the town. Caesar Augustus, the Emperor, wanted a census done and people would have to return to their hometowns to be registered. Many of the people were upset. Some were going to have to travel fifty miles or a hundred miles to their hometowns. Everyone in Nazareth was very worried. How were they going to be able to leave their homes just to go and be registered?
Now in the town there was a young couple, Joseph and Mary, betrothed to each other, and Mary was pregnant and very close to giving birth to her first child. They were going to have to travel all the way to Bethlehem, ninety miles away. There was no way that Mary could walk that far. So the couple looked for someone they could travel with, may be someone had a cart Mary could ride on. But no one was going to Bethlehem. The couple was very sad and very worried. They had to go but how could they get there? The journey was very long.
Then one of the farmers suggested that maybe Mary could ride one of his donkeys and the Joseph could walk beside her. Mary looked at all the donkeys and they all looked very big, except for Fred. Mary recognized, Fred, Mary knew Fred, she had ridden on him before. And so they asked the farmer if they could buy Fred so she might ride him to Bethlehem.
The farmer would not take any money for Fred. He was small and of not much use around the farm and so the farmer was happy to see him go. So off Fred went with the couple, carrying carefully the pregnant mother on the journey to Bethlehem. It was a long journey. Now donkeys can walk about sixty miles in a day but the husband could only walk about twenty-five miles in a day, so the trip was going to take them about four or five days.
Fred liked carrying this Mary. She seemed so happy about becoming a mother and she seemed so at peace. The husband, Joseph, he also seemed happy but he also seemed worried about Mary’s health. So they went slowly and stopped more often than normal but soon Bethlehem was in sight.
Now it seems that there were lots of people going to Bethlehem. As they got closer, they saw more and more people and they began to get worried. Joseph did not have any relatives in Bethlehem any more so they worried about where they might stay. Bethlehem was a little town of about five hundred people, so there should be some inns in the town with room available.
It was late in the day when Mary and Joseph and Fred arrived in Bethlehem and they started asking at the inns if there was room for them. They had almost walked through the entire town and had found no room when they came to one last inn. This inn also had no room for them but the inn keeper offered them a place in his stable. The sable was cut out of the rocks in the hill behind the inn and the animals would provide some warmth for them through the night. In despair they accepted the inn keeper’s offer and settled down in the stable. There was a cow in the stable. Fred never got her name, and she did not like company. There was also a rooster and a couple of chickens and a few little mice hiding in the straw, but the stable was warm. The inn keeper had given Mary and Joseph some bread and some cheese and Fred, well, he had fresh hay to chew on and a salt lick in the corner.
As the night grew longer, Mary was becoming uncomfortable and keeping every one awake. The cow began to complain about these noisy people, and the mice hid deeper in the straw, but Fred, Fred was concerned. His young friend seemed to be in some kind of pain. As the night wore on, Joseph began to look even more worried and in the middle of the night, a baby boy was born. All the animals, even the cow, gathered close to get a look and they all breathed a little deeper wanting to keep the baby warm.
Then strange things began to happen. Angels appeared, singing their hearts out and praising God on high, but no one in the town seemed to notice. Then a bunch of shepherds appeared and with the shepherds came this little boy banging on his drum. It made the baby smile and laugh, but again no one in the town seemed to notice.
But Fred noticed. And Fred remembered.His great, great, great, great grandfather had carried a king and so had he.
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