"The Lamb in the Creche"

It was a conversation
overheard.
It wasn’t eavesdropping …
not really.

“Isn’t our church lovely,
decorated so beautifully
for Christmas?”
“Yes, it is.
And aren’t we glad
that the three-legged lamb
is no longer
in the creche’ in the narthex?
Aren’t we glad
that it has been retired?”

Tears came to my eyes
in my eavesdropping.
Isn’t it for those of us
who are lame in some way …
who are pushed back
as ‘imperfect’,
who limp to the manger,
weary in body
and spirit,
who hobble toward Bethlehem
heavy-laden with
injuries inflicted
by others …
Isn’t it for those of us
‘three-legged lambs’
that the Christ-child came?

I begged …
“Put the little lamb back.”

©2012 anna murdock