"WHAT? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS?" I shouted in disbelief. "What do you mean there wasn't a donkey?" Clearly this nun had gone mad. She smiled angelically at me and persevered.
"Most scholars agree that given Mary and Joseph's social and economic position, it's unlikely that they would ever have travelled on a donkey. And of course there's no scriptural evidence to support the idea that there was a donkey."
Evidence? She wants evidence?
"But what about the Christmas carol 'Little Donkey'?" I asked triumphantly. "What about all those Christmas cards with the donkey on? Everyone knows there was a donkey. How else did they get from Nazareth to Bethlehem?"
"They walked or possibly hitched a ride on a wagon," she offered, rather prosaically. Huh. What does a nun know about the Bible? I immediately started scouring the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. There must be a donkey here somewhere. Nope, nothing. I double checked. No, not even a whiff. I recoiled in horror. My world had collapsed.
I was 16 at the time, studying scripture for my A-Levels, and the nun who had broken this earth-shattering news was my teacher. I looked at Sister Mary Stephen in her habit, gently shaking her head at me. "It doesn't matter that there wasn't a donkey," she said calmly.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2022 من Reader's Digest UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2022 من Reader's Digest UK.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
EVERY SECOND COUNTS: TIPS TO WIN THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Do you want to save 1.5 seconds every day of your life? According to the dishwasher expert at the consumer organisation Choice, there’s no need to insert the dishwashing tablet into the compartment inside the door.
May Fiction
An escaped slave's perspective renews Huckleberry Finn and the seconds tick down to nuclear Armageddon in Miriam Sallon’s top literary picks this month
Wine Not
In a time of warning studies about alcohol consumption, Paola Westbeek looks at non-alcoholic wines, how they taste and if they pair with food
Train Booking Hacks
With the cost of train travel seemingly always rising, Andy Webb gives some tips to save on ticket prices
JOURNEY TO SALTEN, NORWAY, UNDER THE MIDNIGHT SUN
Here, far from the crowds, in opal clarity, from May to September, the sun knows no rest. As soon as it’s about to set, it rises again
My Britain: Cheltenham
A YEAR IN CHELTENHAM sees a jazz festival, a science festival, a classical music festival and a literature festival. Few towns with 120,000 residents can boast such a huge cultural output!
GET A GREEN(ER) THUMB
Whether you love digging in the dirt, planting seeds and reaping the bounty that bursts forth, or find the whole idea of gardening intimidating, this spring offers the promise of a fresh start.
Under The GRANDFLUENCE Suzi Grant
After working in TV and radio as an author and nutritionist, Suzi Grant started a blog alternativeageing.net) and an Instagram account alternativeageing). She talks to Ian Chaddock about positive ageing”
Sam Quek: If I Ruled The World
Sam Quek MBE is an Olympic gold medalwinning hockey player, team captain on A Question of Sport and host of podcast series Amazing Starts Here
Stand Tall, Ladies
Shorter men may be having their moment, but where are the tall women?
