NATIVITY SCENE

Passing through a small Oklahoma town one evening  last December, I was
impressed to see a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent
had gone into creating it. It was so beautiful that I got out of my car
for a closer look. One small feature did bother me, though: The three
Wise Men seemed to be wearing firemen's helmets. Totally unable to come up
with a reason or explanation, I left, pondering. At a "Quik Stop" on the
edge of town, I asked the lady behind the counter about the helmets.

She exploded into a rage, yelling at me, "Y'all Yankees never do read the
Bible!"

I assured her that I did, but simply couldn't recall anything about firemen
in the Bible. She jerked her Bible from behind the counter and ruffled
through some pages, and finally jabbed her finger at a passage.  Sticking
it in my face, she announced triumphantly,  "See, it says right here:
'The three wise men came from afar.'"