Short Story: The Empty Manger

Charlie walked slowly down the roadside kicking loose stones, and humming Christmas Carols he had heard since he was a boy. “Here comes Santa Clause, here comes Santa Clause right down Santa Clause lane” he sang. As he walk he stared up at the flickering ornamental lights on the houses, Santa Clause and his eight tiny reindeer, snowmen with their magical top hats, elves and Christmas trees could be seen through the new snow flakes as they lightly fell. What a wonderful night to be walking around his neighborhood on a chilly Christmas Eve. Soon Charlie would go home to his wife and put the toys around the Christmas tree for his son Shaune and daughter Cindy to find in the morning. Charlie inhaled deeply of the smell of oak firewood burning in the fireplaces. As he watched the smoke from the cold flow out into the night air Charlie yelled out “ Now this is the true meaning of Christmas” as he twirled in circles.

Suddenly the lights all went out and the snows stopped falling. Charlie stood quietly somewhat shocked, hearing a sound behind him he spun around. In front of him stood a tall man dressed in a white suit with golden hair and a fluorescent kind of glow about him. “Charles, do you think that this is all that Christmas is?” the stranger asked. “I think that this is the reason we celebrate and not all that 2000 year old Christian fairy tale stuff” replied Charlie. “Well then Charles perhaps you need to see what the world would have been like had the Savior never come” said the Angel. Charlie unable to speak at first then blurted out “that is all just folk lure and no one really cares.” As the last word left his mouth like the launching bay of a nuclear missile the angel was gone. Suddenly Charlie felt all alone, really alone. The winds howled and the streetlights were all on but no Christmas lights were to be found. Instead the roads were full of debris and the houses were mostly old and run down. Screaming and yelling could be heard in the homes along the streets.

Charlie walked now briskly toward the small building he had called home for 12 years. When he got to the door, he grabbed the handle and pushed but strangely enough the door would not open. Suddenly a loud blast was heard and chips of wood flew from the dime size hole just created in the door causing Charlie to leap behind the shrubbery. A women came to the door in ragged clothes with a cigarette hanging from the corner of her lip and said “Hey bub… you wana good time, show me your money but don’t try to strong arm your way in here or your worm food.” Charlie recognized the women because it was his wife Sheila. “What in the world was happening here? Sheila you know who I am, I am your husband for crying out loud. Now stop this nonsense and let me in” Charlie shouted. Sheila quickly replied “ What are you some kinda escaped loon? One more step and I will give you a new hole to breath through” she screamed back as she slammed the door in Charlie’s face.

As Charlie turned he saw two men at the door of his neighbor Jim’s house taunting him to come out so they could have their way with him. Charlie was mortified with both anger and fear. And still across the street was Pastor Peter’s home and a group of boys beating poor Peter as he cussed them. Two of the boys went into Peter’s home and dragged his two teenage daughters out to the street. “Dear God what is happening here?” Shouted Charlie. Charlie was never much of a church going man. He went to church on Easter Sunday and maybe once or twice during the year and thought that was enough but now he needed to see a church and a pastor. Charlie ran down the street towards the Billingsville Assembly of God. When he arrived he found a Jewish Synagogue but no sign of the church. Charlie ran from street to street but there were no churches to be found anywhere in the town of Billingsville, only mosques and synagogues.

Charlie slowly shuffled down Main Street to where the live manger seen sat in front of the City Hall. That was always a place where Charlie could bring his family every year to marvel at the craftsmanship of the manger, stables, and Bethlehem Inn set upon the lawn of the City Hall. Tonight was a very different scene however. Tonight there was only a board with the name of accused enemies of the state. A large gallows with six ropes and a fresh coat of red paint with a sign above that read “ Enemies of Rome Network Channel 3. Your entertainment Network”. Charlie grabbed the old man sitting on the gallows and shook him. “Where is the manger, where is the baby Jesus, where are the animals?” Charlie yelled in desperation. The old man was startled for a moment and then began to scream out “HELP HELP… CENTURIANS HELP ME”. Charlie quickly let go and ran off down the icy road slipping and stumbling all the way to the Stallmart Department store. He quickly disappeared inside and began to look around.

On the shelves there were no toys or gifts. The Christmas trees and ornaments were gone from the shelves. No reindeer lighted Santa’s or angels, nothing but clothes, pornographic books and items of evil intention. In the center of the store was an auction that was in progress. In this auction were men women and children being sold like heads of cattle. “ Who will give me $1500 for this young female. She will be good for years of hard labor and pleasure to her master” yelled the auctioneer. Charlie quickly recognized her as a friend of his daughters and became ill as he rushed outside and collapsed to the grass. In front of him again was the tall stranger. He knelt down to Charlie in the ground and said “Are you still so sure Jesus didn’t mean anything Charles?” Charlie with tears in his eyes replied sobberly “ But this nation was founded by the people leaving spain and england to find freedom to worship as they pleased. I don’t understand this Roman stuff”. In a soft whispering voice the angel said “Charles that trip never happened. The Catholic church never developed, there were never any popes nor were there ever any Protestants. The world as you knew it was formed and molded with a basis on my Lord’s appearance on Earth. Since he never came, freedom never came, the United States was never founded, your constitution was never written and slavery was never abolished. Your sins were never forgiven, evil has been allowed to flourish and you still have the Adamic nature and will perish and burn in an everlasting hell.”

Getting back up Charlie began to cry “ Lord, I am so sorry for what I said. Please God give me another chance and I will always keep the birth of your son sacred. I didn’t mean it God, please send your son back to us I believe he was born and did die for my sins…please”. As he cried into his hands he began to feel the wet cold snow falling into his shirt collar. Charlie stood up and looked around the lights of Christmas were again sparkling in red, green, blue and yellow. With a huge smile on his face he screamed out to the top of his lungs “Hosanna in the highest. Thank you Father for sending us your Son.” Spinning and leaping Charlie headed down to the Billingsville Assembly of God were Pastor Peter was just beginning the watch night service. Charlie was praising and Glorifying God almost without catching a breath in between. Charlie had been given a gift tonight. He asked Pastor Peter if he could come down and give a testimony of what Christmas meant to him. The Pastor was delighted and then another and another spoke up. Charlie saw what it would have been like if Jesus had never come to the earth and the horror changed his life forever. Behind Charlie was a tall stranger in a white suit. He patted Charlie on the back and said “ well done Charlie and a very Merry Christmas to you ” as he disappeared into the night.

written by Terry L Richardson
copyright©Nov. 21, 2010

What has Happened to our Society?

Do you remember (and I know these days you have to go deep into your memories for this) when such a thing as manners existed? People are so busy with their own lives they no longer consider others in their small sphere of existence. Yes I am even pointing a finger to myself. I always try to open doors for others, I try to remember to open the car door for my wife and please and thank you are usually my response for a kindness rendered but I hear those words less and less from our younger generations. Could it be that children are no longer being taught that valuable lesson in the privacy of their homes? Even now I will ask my wife for something or to do something and she has to remind me to “put a handle on it” which was the code of our parents to say please.

Manners are disarming. The next time you are at a restaurant and a female or even a male approaches a door you are near, try opening the door for them and see what their response will be. They will nine times out of ten say thank you (long lost programmed response from our childhood) and smile at you. This works equally well if you bump into someone and respond with an “excuse me”. You catch them off guard and they most always reply with a “no problem” even though you might have really just ticked them off (especially if they just spilled that $4.00 Starbucks Latte thanks to Mr. or Mrs. Clumsy).

I have thought of purchasing a pair of those Dr Shoals shoe inserts to see if it eases my anger the next time I get into a Wal-Mart 20 items or less Express line and there is a possible (or probable)illegal alien in front of me with 65 items and a hand full of government vouchers. Yeah I know that was too long a sentence teachers but it had to be said in one breath. That happened to me last week at our nearby Wally World. This young lady had a toddler in the basket and an eight and a half month bun in the oven. She was purchasing five gallons of milk, eight boxes of cereal and numerous other food items that could feed a small army. More than likely, there was a small army in her dwelling. Funny thing is, she didn’t appear to speak English when the cashier mentioned the larger than 20 number of items at this checkout but she was able to read (yes nosey me read them over her shoulder) the government WIC vouchers listing on the food items she had in the basket. Naturally this transaction called for management to help sort things out and about fifteen minutes on the clock. Ok… I’m rolling from manners to venting… sorry about that.

Another long lost pleasantry is the greeting. Good morning or good afternoon were always used in our childhoods when approaching a stranger on the street or sidewalk. Try even a “have a nice day” as corny as it may sound when leaving a restaurant or grocery store. Again it will disarm people and they will fire off an automatic smile. Of course there are times when those words can be used to take a dig into someone’s side as well. “Thank you for the ticket officer, you have a nice day” probably didn’t mean what you said because under your breath as he walked back toward his cruiser more than likely follow the word “jerk”. Of course after ten minutes or less riding down the road you realized you really where doing 78 in that 35 zone and deserved that ticket and it was YOU who were the jerk.(no I didnt get a ticket so don't ask)

Here is my last rambling for the day. We don’t thank people nearly enough for what they do for us. Now I am preaching to the choir here as well. The next time you are at a restaurant or anything where a service was performed well, acknowledge it. Say to the server something like “Hey I really appreciate your great service you gave me today” and even tell a manager. It costs you nothing and we certainly don’t hesitate to tell a manager when something was done wrong.

One final note and this one is the most important; when you see ANY servicemen or servicewomen anywhere, thank them for serving. They don’t have to be there. Our military is an all volunteer service and no one was drafted. They are there because they want to be there protecting their country. If you see an old veteran (and they usually wear a hat or pin or something out of pride of their country) thank them for serving and sacrificing. The general public has no idea what they sacrificed for our freedoms.

Well I said I was finished but I have to tell you one small story. My next door neighbor’s wife always seemed a little off. I thought she was a little mentally retarded but I never knew for sure. I did know he was a veteran but had no idea she was. I learned a few weeks back from her husband that she sacrificed far more than anyone around here knows. She was a field hospital nurse in the Vietnam War and saw far too many young men enter in pieces. In 1969 when her enlistment was over, she came home broken and was never able to function normally in society again. While it is true she is still alive, she sacrificed her mind for those boys. Remember to thank a vet guys, it’s the VERY LEAST we can do. Have a great day.