I had my nephew Little Joey visiting at the house yesterday. He’s an adorable little guy five years of age. Anyway, when Little Joey comes to visit I usually take a walk with him.

First we’ll walk down to Vince’s Deli and I’ll get a cup of coffee and Little Joey will get some candy. Then we’ll stop at the park and I’ll drink my coffee while Little Joey plays on the swings. Well, yesterday on our way to the deli we passed by the church . . . And out there on the lawn in front of the church there is a manger scene set up. A beautiful little manger scene with Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, the little shepherd boy and all the stable animals.

Little Joey stopped in front of the church to take a good look at the manger scene. But something wasn’t right, Little Joey looked like something was bothering him.

I said, “Joey, what’s the matter, don’t you like the manger scene?”

He said “It’s very nice but it makes me sad.”

“Sad?” I thought to myself. Then I asked Little Joey, “Joey, how can that manger scene make you sad?”

“Well, there’s no Jesus in that manger, how can there be Christmas without any Jesus in there?” he asked.

I explained to him that Jesus would be placed in the manger late on Christmas Eve and that when he goes to church on Christmas morning he would see Jesus in the manger. It seemed to make him feel a little better but I still think he was a bit puzzled by it all. We continued on and when we got to the park he ran to play on the swings while I sat on the park bench sipping my coffee.

As I sat there sipping my coffee I thought back to what Little Joey had said standing in front of that manger scene. . . “there’s no Jesus in that manger, how can there be Christmas without any Jesus?”

I thought about how that simple thought made the little guy so sad . . . And I thought about how profound that thought was for such a little guy. I thought about how sad it must be for all those people who don’t know Jesus . . . And I wonder how they can have Christmas without having Jesus in their hearts . . . How will they ever know the true Joy of Christmas without having Jesus?

Just a thought over coffee.

Durango KR1356@aol.com