Description
Humpy-bumpy or why Mary came to Bethlehem riding on a donkey
It was near to Christmas, not that they knew that because there had never been a Christmas. No shepherds, no wise men, no stable, no angels.
This was long ago, best beloved. The world was younger than it is now and lots of things hadn't been invented. No cars or planes, no smartphones or tablets, no televisions, no microwaves.
But they had houses, and they had armies, and they had taxes. And they had a government.
Now, best beloved, the government needed money. Governments always need money. They wanted to get money from the people. So that they knew how much they could get they needed to know how many people there were.
So they called a census. Now a census is a sort of count up of people. The government told the people to go to particular towns, to the homes they had been born in.
Continues…
Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, www.stainer.co.uk.
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