(Originally posted to Facebook 24-Dec-2020)

At this time of year, my mind naturally dwells on what we call “the reason for the season.” Yet so much speculation and sometimes pure fiction exists around the birth of Christ that it sometimes can be distracting from the few truths we do have.

As James E. Talmage said: “…man never lived of whom more has been said and sung, none to whom is devoted a greater proportion of the world’s literature. He is extolled by Christian, Mohammedan and Jew, by skeptic and infidel, by the world’s greatest poets, philosophers, statesmen, scientists, and historians. Even the profane sinner in the foul sacrilege of his oath acclaims the divine supremacy of Him whose name he desecrates.”

And yet, when I think about the celebrated birth, with all the songs about who might have visited, or what animals might have been present… with all the stories about why there was no room at the inn, or if the innkeeper was rude or helpful… all the speculation about if Joseph an Mary were anxious or afraid… I often have to ask myself; how much do we really know of the actual birth of Jesus Christ?

The answer? Just a few simple sentences from The Gospel of Luke: “And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her first born son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”