I'll never forget the things that happened in Bethlehem that night. It all started when my wife said, "If you want anything for breakfast, you'll have to go the market tonight." Well, I didn't want to go because I knew how busy the streets were, what with all the extra people in town. The emperor of Rome had said that everyone should go to the city of his family to be enrolled in the census and be taxed. I tell you, that man would tax the hairs in my beard if he could! But I pulled a shawl around my shoulders, and out the door I went.

The streets were even more crowded than I had imagined. Someone would push me from one side, then the other! One man even said, "Why don't you go back home, grandpa?" Well, that sounded good to me, 'cause that's where I wanted to be anyway.

But the most surprising thing happened as I passed the inn. I heard a baby cry. Now, it isn't unusual to hear a baby cry in any city, but this cry seemed to be coming from the stable, behind the inn. "Why would anyone take a baby to the stable?" I wondered. Now, I'm not nosey, no! Not me! But I was curious about what was going on. I walked behind the inn, and, sure enough, there was a light inside the stable. Now, as I said, I'm not nosey, but if I closed one eye real tight, and held my head just right, why, I just couldn't help but see through that crack between the boards. There, inside, was a young man and young woman, and a baby lying in a manger. Why would they have a baby in a manger?

While I was trying to figure all this out, I heard something behind me. Well, actually, I smelled it first. It was a group of shepherds. Now, you know you can't spend all your time with sheep without smelling like… sheep. So I moved aside and gave those guys all the room they wanted.

They went in and began to tell the young couple -- Mary and Joseph were their names -- how they had been in the fields watching their sheep like they always did. All at once an angel -- yes, an angel -- appeared to them. The angel said, "Don't be afraid, for I bring you good news that is for all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, (that's Bethlehem), a Savior which is Christ, the Lord. And this will be your sign: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." As soon as he had said that, a big group of angels joined him saying "Glory to God in the highest, and on Peace, good will to men."

Now, I had heard the teachers talk about the Messiah that would come. He would be the savior of the world. But a baby, in a manger, in Bethlehem, the most unimportant of towns? How can this be? Is this baby the Messiah? I guess we'll have to wait and see what becomes of this little guy.

No, I won't forget the things that happened in Bethlehem that night if I live to be 80 years old. Hee, hee, hee. What am I talking about? I'm already 80 years old!