I'll trade you a wise man for a Joseph....

Sometimes things strike me as funny and I can't quite say why. The morning was bizarre to start with. I had an appointment with this medical guru - I had to wait 5 months just to get in to see him. He practices in this big clinic in Burlington that is Christian based and is located in the Crossroads Centre. The Crossroads Centre became the new location for 100 Huntley Street years ago and now houses CTS (that Christian station you keep flipping past).

In a million years I never would have thought I would be in the building that does Christian broadcasting.

So, I was already a little out of my zone when I see that the Blessings store has a nativity set for sale. There is a note on the box - "Joseph is missing, but there are 4 wise men." I know that one day this will make a good sermon illustration. Any old wise man can fill in for poor Joseph. Of course you know that somewhere is a nativity with two Josephs and two wise men. If Mary was missing would we stick in some replacement? Perhaps cover up a sheep with a blue scarf?

Now for my rant...I can't stand nativity scenes. We always had one when I was a kid - and I admit something happened to Joseph and one of the wise men had to fill in. But about 10 years ago I was watching TV early Sunday morning and a very smart man was preaching about the the fallacy of having wise men peering down at baby Jesus when they actually did not reach him for a few years. Every year NYGH puts up the nativity scene. It's suffocating to look at. The last year I worked there they decided to keep the nativity safe by putting plexiglass over the front of the manger. This has forced tight quarters for everyone. I'm a visual person so the lack of air holes really bugged me. It was great having a desk by the window but you can see I was often distracted by the goings on outside!