Donkey's drama reveals message of Christmas
A record number, more than 750 people in all, flocked to the annual Night in the Barn live nativity drama, held Saturday and Sunday night at the farm home of Carol Duerksen and Maynard Knepp, near Goessel.
Church youth dressed as angels led groups of seekers down a torch-lighted path, past lowing and bleating barnyard animals, through a low door, and into a cozy barn.
They found seats on hay bales and settled in to listen as the narrator told the story of a donkey named "Donkey," who even though crippled and unfit for regular donkey-duties, found purpose and received a blessing on a holy night long ago.
The story, which was written by Duerksen, who, along with her husband have written several books with spiritual themes, was inspired by the heroic deeds of a real, crippled, donkey — the same donkey that appears in the show.
The play, presented by youth from the Tabor and Goessel Mennonite churches, included music written and performed by Doug and Jude Krehbiel.
In addition to Donkey, there were other animals for children to touch: sheep, llamas, horses, turkeys, peafowl, a cow with her baby calf, and a enormously fat pot-bellied pig.
One spectator, visiting Night in the Barn for the first time, said the simple play had added something profound to her holiday season, and that she planned to make the pilgrimage again next year, bringing other seekers along.
Night in the Barn
By Carol Duerksen (with original music by Doug and Jude Krehbiel).
The play occurs in a hay-strewn stable filled with animals, on Christmas Eve, and is told from the Donkey's perspective, through a narrator.
[Donkey:] Donkey. I don't even have a real name. Just Donkey.
Is it because I'm not worth even having a name of my own? Maybe. It can't be because of Shrek — he hasn't been invented yet. I'm just Donkey.
Ugly, crippled, broken, good-for-nothing Donkey. My friend Monty —
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now there's a real donkey. Big. Tall. Strong. Strong enough to carry a person. Strong and sure-footed. You could trust him with a woman who's in a very delicate condition. You could trust him with a woman nearly ready to deliver a baby.
Me? I can't carry anybody. I can't carry packs. I'm not good for anything. I hang out with the shepherds and the sheep because there's nothing else for me to do. Even with them, I feel worthless. And that's how I spend my time.
[Song: "The last, the lost, the least" by Doug and Jude Krehbiel]
Why was I born, what was God thinking, to make a creature such as me? What good am I to anyone with these bent and crippled knees?
[Chorus:] I walk along with a broken step. I walk alone in these fields. There'll come a day I'll be left behind. The last, the lost, the least
I guess the shepherds are kind enough, and there's always plenty to eat. But when they see I have no worth, what will become of me?
[Donkey:] The night it happened, that's just what I was doing. Hanging out with the sheep and shepherds. Dozing off and on. Watching the stars. Listening to the night critters. Listening for any unusual sounds in the flock. I sensed what happened next before I actually saw it.
[Carol: Hark the Herald Angels Sing]
[Donkey:] You can't imagine the excitement among the shepherds! The next thing I knew, they were gone! Just like that! Gone! And I'm standing there thinking, okay, so who's going to "keep watch over the sheep by night?" Who's going to make sure a coyote doesn't sneak in and steal a lamb? Who?
Donkey. Me.
I'm all they've got tonight. So I checked out the herd. I know them all. I know which lambs belong where. I counted sheep — I don't mean so I could fall asleep. I counted sheep and came up one short. So I counted again. Still one missing. I walked slowly among the herd and looked at each ewe chewing her cud. And I found out who was missing. The big ewe named Martha had triplets, but only two lambs were curled up beside her. One of Martha's babies was missing.
Great. Just great.
Now this crippled donkey gets to go looking in the dark for a missing lamb. I have to. If I don't that baby will be a midnight snack for a coyote. I started walking. And while I walked, I wondered what the shepherds were finding in Bethlehem. I hoped they were having a better time than I was!
[Carol: O Little Town of Bethlehem]
[Donkey:] Suddenly, I heard a tiny cry. Over there, to the left. I tottered toward the sound, put my head down to the ground, and there she was
Her leg was caught in under a rock — she couldn't get away. Now what's a donkey to do? Go back to [he cozy safety of the herd, or stand out in the dark with one little lamb and wonder who will show up first — the shepherds or a coyote?
I knew. I slowly moved over until I was standing directly over that lamb, with my crooked legs crossed over her body. I can still kick — a coyote would have to face those legs before he'd get his meal. And that's where I stood.
I guess I dozed off. Because I dreamed I was with the shepherds in Bethlehem. I dreamed we were in a barn. There in the barn stood a man, and beside him, a teenage girl was sitting in the straw. A newborn baby boy was wrapped in a soft blanket on the straw beside the girl.
(Mary and Joseph have come into the barn)
[Carol: Away in a Manger]
[Donkey:] The baby opened his eyes, and he looked around until he found me, the worthless donkey. He looked into my face with his large dark eyes, and then
And then, it was like he was a grown man, standing right beside me, there in the dark, standing with that lost little lamb.
"Well done, Donkey," I heard him say. "A good shepherd leaves the herd to look for the one sheep that is missing. I am the Good Shepherd — I came to seek out and to save those who are lost. I came so they can have life — and have it abundantly!"
[Carol: Good Christian Friends, Rejoice!]
[Donkey:] I woke up to hear singing. The shepherds had returned singing and praising God for what they had seen in Bethlehem.
They found me, standing over that lamb. They called me a "Good Donkey" and they carried the lamb back to its mother.
And me? I sang and danced my way back to the herd, and I've been singing and dancing ever since.
[Song: The last, the lost, the least (second verse)].
Why was I born, what was God thinking, to make a creature such as me? I found a reason and it doesn't matter 'bout my bent and crippled knees.
[Chorus] I walk along with a lighter step. No more alone in these fields. Looking for lambs that are left behind. The last, the lost, the least.
Now the shepherds are more than kind. They call me the Good Donkey. It reminds me of the baby in the manger and what he said to me.
