A wealthy European family decided to have their baby baptized in their grand mansion. Dozens of guests arrived dressed in their finery. After depositing their elegant wraps on a bed, the guests were entertained royally until the time came for the ceremony. But they couldn’t find the baby. The child’s governess ran upstairs and returned with a desperate look on her face. Everyone searched frantically until someone recalled having seen him asleep on one of the beds. The baby was on a bed all right—buried beneath a pile of coats, jackets, and furs. While the celebrating took place, the object of the celebration had been forgotten, neglected, and nearly smothered.
It makes you wonder whether the baby whose birthday we celebrate at Christmas has also been lost beneath the piles of stuff we keep adding to the celebration.