A WHITE COLT'S TALE

A  WHITE  COLT'S  TALE

A Children's Christmas Story

​By Ron Starbuck

Trinity Episcopal Church Midtown Houston

ON the same night, the Baby Jesus was born; a pure white colt was also born. The Holy Family gave him the Spanish name of Manuelo. This is Manuelo’s story and the story of Jesus too. Jesus, whom the Prophets of Israel once told us, we would call Emmanuel, is God’s gift of love to save the world.
 
THERE is always a story within a story, a tale within a tale. This is one of the myths told by the angels and archangels that watched over the Nativity on the first night of Christmas.
 
A myth is a fairy tale that is truer than true; it is a story that grows stronger and stronger inside your heart as you mature in faith. A myth is a legend that inspires humanity.
 
It offers us a lesson in wisdom and an inward change that brings our souls closer to God and creation. In truth, it is a story we know in our soul, one we have known forever and forgotten.
 
This is still true even today, especially today, now at this moment. It is true yesterday, too, as it will always be true tomorrow. And in all the yesterdays and tomorrows, we may try to imagine in a world without end.
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EMMANUEL means “God with us,” and in Spanish, so does the name Manuelo. So, Jesus and Manuelo share a similar name. Do you remember these words from an Advent hymn we sing yearly, VENI EMMANUEL?

 
O come, O come, Emmanuel, 
and ransom captive Israel, 
that mourns in lonely exile here 
until the Son of God appears. 
Rejoice! Rejoice! 
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
 

AS GOD’S special gift to the Baby Jesus, Manuelo was so happy to become his friend. Manuelo’s mother, Isidora, wisely and humbly carried Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth to Baby Jesus.
 
ISIDORA’S name means a gift of God in Spanish. The angels and archangels will tell you that Isidora and Mary knew each other when Mary was first born. Manuelo and Jesus thought of this as God’s magical circle of love. Do you believe in the magic of God’s love?
 
WHEN the three wise men who traveled from the East came with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they looked at Manuelo and Jesus and knew they would become best friends. Manuelo and Jesus were so happy to be with one another as extraordinary friends.
 
Manuelo and Jesus played, ate, and prayed with and for one another. Sometimes, they even fell asleep together like two innocent lambs. When Jesus first started school, Manuelo carried him from home to the schoolyard and back again.

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Trinity Episcopal Church Midtown Houston

EVERY YEAR at the feast of Passover, the family journeyed to Jerusalem to visit the Jewish Temple. Manuelo carried Jesus across the Roman roads of Israel and through the ancient stone streets to the temple on their journey, where Jesus entered our heavenly Father’s house to learn and pray.
 
In the Jewish Temple, Jesus sat among the teachers listening and asking them questions. They were all amazed at his inborn knowledge and understanding. Manuelo watched and heard as well and saw how Jesus grew in wisdom and stature.
 
AND MANY YEARS later, after Jesus was baptized in the Jordon River. When led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, Manuelo was still beside him, helping Jesus to make the journey.
 
MANUELO was there through all the years that Jesus lived, when Jesus ministered to the poor, healed the sick, visited people in prison, and loved everyone heartbroken or in pain. 
 
WHENEVER Manuelo traveled with Jesus, he told all the other animals they met about who Jesus was and how he loved them. He explained to all who would listen how our heavenly father sent his only-begotten son into the world to save the whole world.
 
Everywhere they went together, children gathered, drawn towards Jesus, who loved them so dearly. And towards Manuelo as well, whom they hugged and petted and felt a special love for, as Manuelo loved them all.
 
WHEN Jesus entered Jerusalem on what we now celebrate as Palm Sunday, Manuelo holding his head high with pride, carried him into the city. They were together before and after the Last Supper. When Jesus prayed all night long in the Garden of Gethsemane, Manuelo prayed with him. And on the darkest day of their lives, Manuelo was with Jesus. As Jesus was beaten and crucified on the cross, he committed his spirit unto our heavenly father and died.

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AS the Roman soldiers finally took Jesus down from the cross, Manuelo helped Joseph of Arimathea carry Jesus one last time to his tomb. As any child can imagine, this was a sorrowful time for Manuelo, for he loved his friend Jesus very much. And with every step Manuelo took, tears streamed from his sad eyes and fell to the ground.
 
AND yet, Manuelo knew in some mysterious way, as our animal friends often know things we do not, that this was a part of God’s plan to save the world. As each teardrop touched the ground, wherever Manuelo’s hooves had carefully stepped, something wonderful happened. Every tear turned into a beautiful and priceless pearl, a symbol of God’s love for the whole world and the people in the world. 
 
IT is as if Jesus shared a secret with Manuelo, telling him that he shouldn’t be afraid and that they would see one another again soon. So, even though this was a time of great sadness for Manuelo, all his sorrow was balanced out by a great sense of joy. Manuelo knew then, as he knows now, that Jesus is always with us, even unto eternity and across all of God’s creation.
 
AS for Manuelo, his story continues up until today. He travels across creation, always as an angel of light, telling his tale to all the animals and children he meets. You may see him appear as a Unicorn, a symbol of Christ. Jesus is forever a part of Manuelo, just like Jesus is forever a part of you. 
 
JESUS lives within us each and is with us forever now. The Holy Spirit dwells within us, praying in and with and through us, especially when we don’t always know how to pray on our own.

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

 "God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

“That very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”

"That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee,
​that they also may be one in us.”

Many Blessings ~ Ron Starbuck.


A White Colt’s Tale: A Children’s Christmas Story 

Copyright 2022 ~ Ron Starbuck & Saint Julian Press © 2022

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