What Other Christmas Stories Leave Out
A Dog And Cat Set The Record Straight
This is a momentous occasion. A dog, Percy, and a cat, Gerry, have collaborated to produce this piece. We want to admit at the outset, that we don’t like one another. In truth, we usually can’t stand being in the same room together. However, to correct an injustice, we have agreed to set aside our mutual contempt. If a lion and a lamb will one day lay down together, we can temporarily, for a good cause, do so as well.
All right, what big deal are we talking about. The various narrations of the birth of the Christ child are seriously deficient. Shepherds, sheep, angels, a donkey, a drummer boy, cows, strangers from a distant lands, a star, all have a prominent place in the oft repeated tales. What is missing? The role that dogs and cats played in the grand cosmic event.
Have you ever heard of shepherds able to tend their sheep without dogs present to do the heavy lifting? Of course not. Our canine oral history passed down from the actual dogs present on that faith-filled night describe the scene this way: The shepherds, half asleep and a little woozy from the liquid fuel they had imbibed to keep them warm, didn’t even hear the angels singing. It took a lot of barking and knowing looks upwards before the shepherds noticed the angelic hosts. My ancestors had to then…
