Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem and what’s a barn without a cow, right?  Wrong!!  Traditional nativity scenes always have one donkey and one ox – always!  No pigs, no chickens, no goats, no dogs, no cats and the sheep are visitors.  Furthermore the ox and the ass are always right there by the manger, noses almost touching the straw.  How come?  Despite the pictures in your Christmas books nothing ever says Mary rode a donkey to Bethlehem.  These beasts are present for another reason – prophecy.  Read the prophet Isaiah sometime.  "Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand."  (Isaiah 1:2-3) These humble beasts are in the story to stick it to you.  Do you really get Christmas, or are your Christmas tree and crèche just decoration?  If common beasts of burden worship Christ why don’t you?!