THE CHRISTMAS PIG

Have you ever felt that you don’t fit in, that you were out of place, a misfit? Have you ever felt inferior, somehow not worthy of the company of others? Or maybe you just wondered why you didn’t seem to be accepted by those around you?

I have to confess that there was a time that watching the TV special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” would get to me. You know Rudolph. He is a misfit, red nose and all that. Then there is the elf that wants to be a dentist. Then there are all the misfit toys. When they sang the “misfit song”, it touched me. Ever feel that way? It is like the old Christmas joke: Q: Did you know that one of Santa’s helpers was depressed? A: He had “poor elf esteem”.

Every year I try to affect my brother’s self esteem by giving him a pig for Christmas. He has everything that he needs, so I buy a pig from a relief agency and they send it to someone in the Third World to use for income. It is a nice gesture and a fun way to stick it to my brother at Christmas. By now he has a whole herd of Christmas pigs.

One day shortly before Christmas, I was rummaging around in a storage room at church. I came across a manger scene that I think was made for children. It was made of wood with figures that were basically one-dimensional, as if cut out by a jig saw. I found Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus. I found sheep and shepherds, Magi and camels, a donkey and a cow. And then to my surprise, I found a pig.

You need to think about this. Mary and Joseph, the parents of Jesus, are devout Jews. They go to Passover every year. They celebrate Hanukah. They no doubt keep Kosher in all that they do. There should not be a pig at the manger. This is an unclean animal. The pig is out of place, a definite misfit. Why was there a Christmas pig?

In Malmo, Sweden, there is a library that lets you check out human beings instead of books. You can borrow a human being for a 45 minute conversation in the library’s outdoor café. The purpose is for people to be exposed to someone different than they are. Recent people available for “loan” included a Muslim woman, a quadriplegic, an ex gang-member, a gay man, and a gypsy. This intrigues me, because I once knew someone who would have been an interesting person to check out of the “people library” to have a conversation.

Jay David Leichtung, among other things, was a church organist. He had served as a church musician for most of his adult life. He had to be one of the kindest, gentlest, warmest people I have ever known. A few years ago, David died just a few weeks before Christmas. That was when I learned that David was Jewish. The burial was to be in a Jewish cemetery and a rabbi was going to do the service.

I went to the funeral, which was held beside the mausoleum in the cemetery. The other guests were members of David’s family and his companion Li, a local mailman. David was gay. Most of the rest of the attendees were members of “The Prime Time Club”. Club members defined themselves as “Mature men who enjoy the company of other men.” David had been a member of the club.

Before the service, they opened David’s casket so that the family could see him. I was a little surprised that David, a non-practicing Jew, who often received communion in the Lutheran Church, was wearing a yarmulke, you know, a Jewish skull cap. I made my way to the casket to say good-bye before they closed it again. That was when I noticed that there was a big red book in David’s right hand. “Excuse me,” I said. “Please wait.” I looked at David. I looked at the book. It was the most recently published Lutheran Hymnal. I smiled: Goodbye my good friend. You’ve covered all the bases.

It was when I sat down that I started to think about the Christmas pig. First, I remembered how wonderful life is and that it is better than anything you can make up. It was also when I realized that I was the one that was most out of place that day and that most of the time I really do not fit in and never have. I am a misfit, an outsider and I always have been. It also became clear to me, that I did not deserve to keep company with the people that I have come to know. I am a sinner of great proportions. I am not clean. I stink. Sometimes I am just a swine. Say hello to the Christmas pig.

But I am not really so alone. When the Christ child was all grown up and walking through life, there was always someone showing up who wasn’t Kosher, someone who didn’t fit in. These were usually people who, like the Christmas pig, were out of place in most respectable places because they were considered unclean and unfit. Strangely enough, these seem to be the folk Jesus touched, healed, forgave and also just kept company with. In doing so, he himself became un-Kosher and unclean. He became a misfit and unacceptable to others. Eventually he is shoved completely out of the world and onto a cross.

It all makes sense, because he was born an outsider. There is no room for him inside so he is out there with the animals. And all things considered, I am guessing that he would not have minded sharing his space, with even the Christmas pig. Thank God.