Nativity, my interpretation.

If I were to explain the Christmas story today, I would start with Mary and Joseph. I would tell the children that they loved each other very much, that he gave her flowers that he made for her out of wood, a very beautiful craft where furniture and houses and beautiful and/or useful things are built using tools and wood as raw material. That every time he cut down a tree he planted many seeds, to make sure that there would always be trees to provide shade and wood, and above all oxygen. That Maria loved to cook and had a bakery, but that she also read and liked to write, and as she was one of the few who knew the art of reading, she taught others and helped them to write letters and talk about their feelings. That she made José very tasty cakes, and that when they passed each other in the street they both smiled at each other and felt their stomachs tingle. That they got married at a very nice party, where they invited all the neighbours, ate delicious food and danced for hours. That the love they felt was so strong that everyone at the party felt loved and happy. They went on their honeymoon, because at that time there were no planes or trains or cars, and it was not so comfortable to travel by mule. It turned out that Maria, in one of the many nights of love, became pregnant, and that one day she got sick and had a high fever that made her hallucinate, as it can happen to anyone, it is normal, and there she saw an angel called Annunciation, who came to comfort her, and chatted for a while. They talked about love and how much she and José loved each other, how important it is to have a partner who loves you very much, who cares for you and spoils you, who encourages you to be better, who accepts you as you are, who is a great friend, and how important it is to love and respect each other in order to have sons and daughters who grow up healthy and very spoilt, confident in their abilities and talents. Of course, they also talked about the baby that would be their son and there the Angel must have commented that he would be a very special child, visionary and kind.

And there were intolerant people, those who believe that anyone who thinks differently must be destroyed, those who are afraid of their shadow, those who must be kept at a distance, because they can also infect and cause us mental and emotional stress and that we must never vote in a democratic election, never let them come to power and impose their little ideas of how we should think or feel or live, or who to love, or what religion to have, or who is beautiful and who is ugly, who is worthwhile and who is not. And they had weapons and an army and they were violent and dangerous.

These bigots, at that time, were Romans, well, their Caesar, that is, the manager, who was an incompetent despot, one of those who come to power by telling lies and kicking. Among the citizens there were engineers and artists, and architects and many others who did good things, like building the foundations of many cities, bringing water, inventing numbers (not zero, those were the Arabs) and probably also suffered the despotism of their Caesar. Nowadays Rome is a very beautiful place, but at that time Caesar, who was a bit of a chippy and very superstitious, and some priest told him that a little boy who was about to be born would take away his throne, you tell me, that at the age that the little boy could commit such an act Caesar would probably be retired, but he didn't do the maths right and decided that no child should be born in the town so all the pregnant women had to go into exile.

Mary and Joseph left with the same mule from the honeymoon, now the poor thing was carrying Mary and baby. And they found a place where they were allowed to stay, and they surrounded themselves with people who loved and respected them, because that is also important to learn, that sometimes you are in an environment where you are not happy, and you can keep looking, until you find other people with similar interests and principles.

And they had a healthy baby and they called him Jesus, and the neighbours came to greet and bring food, and some very elegant gentlemen brought him 3 things that I will never understand what they are for a baby, gold, frankincense and myrrh... to be continued