"I must remember that," said God thoughtfully. And then to the Virgin,
"Come. It grows late. There is no one to light the lamps of Heaven. You
shall have your desire; for you, too, are a woman."
And the robins say that God did remember, for it was on the twenty-fifth
of December, centuries later, that his own son was born into the world.
They say that the limestone ridge within sight of Eden was the spot
where Bethlehem grew up after Eden vanished. They even say that the cave
to which Mary came on another winter's night, when the doors of the inn
had been closed against her, was the very same. There, where the world's
first baby had been born, she wrapped God's son in swaddling clothes and
laid him in a manger, for the cave had now become a stable. Perhaps the
heavenly host who sang "Peace and Goodwill" to the shepherds was the
same, though the robins do not assert that.
Of one thing they are certain: that every time a baby is born God
laughs again and His laughter travels down the ages. And that is why on
Christmas Day everyone is especially kind to children, because it was a
little child who gave the first laugh and taught grown people, even God
Himself, how easy it is to love when one is merry.