Southern Oregon News Review, Thursday, December 18, 1047 GLOOIA IN EXCEISIS DEO W ENDELL BROOKS The over-stuffed lady in the purple dress had Angered every necktie on the counter, and had Rusty McGonefa] — the clerk — pull some two dozen boxes of assorted neck­ wear out from behind the counter, had asked Rusty a dozen times whether or not he thought green would go well with blue and. finally, had turned away from the tie bar, sucking on her underlip and mum­ bling something about not wanting to buy anything she wasn’t just sure of, and that three dollars was more than she wanted to spend on Henry anyway. Rusty sighed. He forced a smile as he waited on the next customer. All this, and heaven, too, he thought. As if he didn't have enough on his mind already—enough meaning one particularly cute bit of fem ininity that was jockeying the number one elevator at the large loop depart­ ment store. Miss Annabelle Toodles. Brunette. Five foot two. But it wasn't only the person of Miss Too­ dles that Rusty was thinking about. No, it was the fact she had, only the day before, purchased a red and white polka dot tie from him. " I want a tie that w ill look well with brown h a ir." she'd said, dim- » M '• < Mit. Ç . ■ -'t- X "'-KS' jS L r * ' ' W .Mary and Joseph undertoo k th e ir memorable journey fro m N azareth to Bethlehem nearly tw o thousand years ago, Palestine was a peaceful and reasonably prosperous country. B u t the heart of Israel was fille d w ith lo n g in g and uneasiness; lo n g in g fo r the Messiah who, according to the prophets, the L o rd bad prom ised H is chosen people; the Messiah who w o u ld d e liv e r them fro m th e ir tria ls and trib u la tio n s — even as Moses had led th e ir forefathers out of the bondage o f Egypt. A n d now i t came to pass th a t Caesar Augustus had decided a ll the w o rld should be taxed and every man should be enrolled, each in his native city. A n d i t happened th a t Joseph, w ho liv e d in Nazareth, was a native o f Bethlehem . In those days, there was no macadam h ig h w a y leading fro m the G alilean h ills id e in to B ethle­ hem. the c ity o f D a v id w h ic h nestled in the blue-green m ountains south of Jerusalem, and under ideal conditions Bethlehem was several days’ journey fro m Nazareth. So, M ary and Joseph started fo r Bethlehem about the m id d le o f December. They carried a little fo o d w ith them fo r emergencies, a little extra c lo th in g and some bedding. T hey traveled very slo w ly because o f M a ry— and w hen she was too tire d to w a lk another step, Joseph to o k the packs upon his shoulders so M a ry m ig h t rid e the little donkey w h ic h tru d g e d fa ith fu lly at his side. ( A5 I )l ; ■ H E little v illa g e o f Bethlehem was about six miles fro m Jeru­ Rusty's eyes bulged salem. Those last six m iles were the longest and hardest fo r M a ry : polka dot tie! the m ountain tr a il was steep and treacherous, the atmosphere was lig h te r than the travelers fro m G alilee were accustomed to, and they pling. "Brown hair and brown were very tire d and tra ve l-u e a ry when they reached Bethlehem the eyes.” city o f D avid where Joseph's ancestor K in g D a v id had ru le d fourteen And Rusty had red hair. Red hair generations before Augustus and his census. I t was early evening, b u t and blue eyes. And here all the time the in n was already crow ded beyond its n o rm a l capacity w ith census- he'd thought. . . . To top it all off, the floor manager bound travelers; not even a corner was available where Joseph could had just made the rounds an­ have spread a bed fo r M ary. nouncing they would remain open In desperation Joseph pleaded fro m d o o r to door and w ith those until 9 o’clock. Nine o’clock on the w hom he passed as he raced th ro u g h the n a rro w streets o f Bethlehem night before Christmas to accom­ in search o f shelter. F in a lly , someone directed h im to a stable w h ic h modate last minute shoppers. It was was really a cave hew n in to the rocky ledge o f the m ountainside. T he too much. Nine o'clock and he'd made a date the week before with stable to w h ic h Joseph led M a ry was w e ll supplied w ith clean straw ; Annabelle. They were going to take and M ary was g ra te fu l fo r shelter and p riva cy: i t was H o ly N ig h t. I in an early show and wind up the There was no room at the in n th a t n ig h t, b u t over in Shepherds' evening dancing at the Aragon. But field, about tw o miles south o f Bethlehem , several Shepherds were she were more interested in brown keeping the " n ig h t w a tch " over th e ir flocks w hen suddenly a great „ “ ^to’ h t ie r y ^ - well’ ’ he didn't cate T blaze o f lig h t appeared in the sky and seemed to descend upon the if the store staycd