And in those days a decree was issued that put most people into tier 3, so Mary and Joseph couldn’t travel to their home town until they’d had two negative COVID tests five days apart. By the time the results had come through the transport system was heaving and social distancing was as far from reality it’s possible to get. The NHS was teetering on the
edge of collapse and they were lucky to find a vet and a barn on a celebrity farm, and Mary bought forth her first born son and laid him in a manger because the hospitality sector was still not fully open.
And there were some shepherds, keeping watch in the fields, still hoping a no deal Brexit could be avoided, and lo an angel of the Lord came down and said ‘Do not be afraid, for the good news is there will be a network of lorry parks in Kent. And this will be a sign to you, just off the M20, you will find the child lying in a manger.’
Janet Lees, December 2020
And suddenly the heavenly host were streaming ‘Glory to God in the High Street, peas in the food bank, and global goodwill to all.
A short break from letters to Benedict to bring you a seasonal story.
