A Christmas tale

Since the first Christmas, there have always been two Christmases — one for the poor and the other for the elite or the rich.

- TONY LOPEZ

Christmas for the poor is the tale of Jesus being born in a manger, a box or trough where animals are fed, in Bethlehem.

“Jesus being born ina manger symbolizes his humble beginnings and the idea that the ‘King of Kings’ came to Earth in a lowly way, not ina palace, signifying his accessibility to all people and his willingness to share in humanity’s struggles; a manger being a feeding trough for animals, represents Jesus as the ‘Bread of Life’,” explains Wikipedia.

It’s an amazing optic: the son of God comes down to Earth not as royalty but as one of the people and a product of virgin birth. And His very first visitors were animals, not humans. That means Jesus was/ is the God of humans as well as the God of animals. What can be more inclusive than that? Anyway, many humans behave worse than animals. Ever heard of flood control contractors and people’s elected representatives managing flood control insertions? They behave like animals.

What a funny word — “insertions.” In biology, when you have “insertions,” you are screwed up. When the product is or looks bad, you do “amendments.” That is the function of Congress.

About the other Christmas, the one for the elite or the rich. After Jesus was born, God probably had second thoughts. “Wait a moment, my son is king, the king of kings.” So you have the optics of three kings visiting the King of Kings. Estimates of the number of kings vary, from three to 12. Most reckoning is three kings — because there were three gifts. What about the nine other kings? Well, they probably thought, “What could I give to someone who already has everything?” Jesus was/is, after all, the King of Heaven.