Don't You Ever Read the Bible?"
Passing through a small Southern town one evening last December, I was impressed to see a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. It was so beautiful that I got out of my car for a closer look. One small feature did bother me, though: The three Wise Men seemed to be wearing firemen's helmets. I was so bewildered that I stopped at a restaurant on the edge of town and asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets. She "hmphed" at me and said, "Don't you Yankees ever read the Bible?" I assured her that I did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen in the Bible. She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage she announced triumphantly, "See, it says right here... 'The three wise men came from afar.'"
Originally published November 14, 2002.
