Officials in the Library in Memphis ordered the removal from the Crib display there of some figures it had deemed (on ‘politically-correct’ grounds, we presume) inappropriate. Perhaps someone had objected to the deification of a child born out of wedlock, the public flaunting of his parents, the prominence offered to strangely-dressed travellers – perhaps illegal immigrants. The infant Jesus, his mother, St Joseph and the three Wise Men were taken away.
There are Dervishes everywhere!
The local Mayor intervened to have them restored. The Christian community organising the display commented:
‘We were left with a bunch of farmyard animals!’
I bet, unlike the Dominican Church in Newry, they didn’t have a nodding donkey, a crafty old fox, also nodding, a squirrel constantly raising and lowering his bushy tail, a sage old owl, preening itself over all the proceedings.
We may have lost the circling ducks, Martin Payne, but we’ve gained a lot more!
All gone now, for another year!