There is Room at the Inn!

Oh joy of joys! One of the two hotels in Invercargill, New Zealand, that do dinner on Christmas took pity on two weary travelers and decided to roll out another card table to accomodate us for their Christmas buffet! Not long ago we were denied, but perhaps the manager watched It's a Wonderful Life or saw a moving display window at a department store. By "moving" I mean the characters in the display window were animatronic. And by "moving" I also mean that the sight of a twelve-inch reindeer bobbing its head awkwardly to "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" melted his icy heart into a puddle of heart-love.

Dana and I are looking forward to the dinner, at which we will likely be the only out-of-towners, however, I miss the appropriateness of the "No room at the inn" motif. How would things have been if the owners of the inn in Bethlehem had a change of heart? What if Dave, proprietor of the popular inn אליעתתזר בן–יודה‎ had gone Christmas shopping that night - which makes sense because it was Christmas Eve... or about to be. So Dave goes to וסיעפתתדא‎ to pick up some earings his wife's been eyeing, and while waiting in line with all the other people who waited until the last minute he sees spies a rare window dressing including the nativity scene. Dave thinks, "Hey, wait a minute, I just told a young couple, one of whom was with child, that there was no room at the inn." Realising that this was not the most shining moment of his life, Dave seeks them out, whips out a cot and the course of history is changed. As we have it Dave didn't do this. I'm not sure if he wrapped up his Christmas shopping way in advance (pun intended) or if he didn't even get those earings.

Let's all just pause a think about it: What would our nativity scene look like if Dave HAD went out to get those earrings? It really makes you think.