The shine of the soft white moonlight; and Joseph looked and nodded. And then he looked...

Selma Jacobson: [reciting the Christmas Story in church] It was tax time in Palestine, and all the people had to go to the county seat to pay what they owed. And some of them had to go to the town of Bethlehem, and among these were Joseph and Mary who lived in the town of Nazareth. Joseph led a donkey, and Mary rode on the donkey, but they were getting very worried because it was getting very dark and Mary was going to have a baby. So when they got to Bethlehem, they went straight to a hotel. But the man in charge of the hotel said, 'I'm sorry, but we haven't got any rooms at all. We are all filled up, you will have to go somewhere else.' But when Joseph-he explained that they needed a room very badly, the manager thought for a minute; then he said, 'You may go out into the barn. I'll have the hired man throw some hay into the manger for you.' So he went out into the barn. Out on the hillside beyond Bethlehem, a shepherd was lying there sleeping, when suddenly he woke up with a light shining in his face. He saw a star hanging in the sky, low over Bethlehem, and on the hillside around him he could see his sheep like little lumps of silver against the earth. And he heard sounds on the road, and looking off, he saw three camels with three riders going toward Bethlehem. The three men rode their camels straight to the hotel, and got down from them and went to the manger - because it was there that the stars shone most brightly. There they found a man, and a woman, and a little baby; and they gave presents to the little baby, and then the air was filled with the sound of angels singing. 'Peace on earth,' sang the angels, 'good will toward men.' The mother heard it, and Joseph heard it, and out on the hillside the shepherd heard it. And the people of Bethlehem heard it, and in Jerusalem the king heard it. Then Joseph and Mary and the little baby were left alone. And suddenly the mother looked down at the little baby and said to Joseph, 'Why look, there's a light around the head of our baby': the shine of the soft white moonlight; and Joseph looked and nodded. And then he looked at Mary and said, 'There's a light around your head too.' And then the mother hugged her baby closer to her, as if she were afraid for it. And then the three of them listened to the song of the angels, which filled the whole world... and the baby cried