The Brueghel painting, The Census, portrays the census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria and recorded in the gospel of Luke. The painting shows a great crowd of people, with a long line waiting to be registered. We observe busy shops and active commerce.
At first glance you think that it is a painting of a crowd - until you look in the lower right part of the canvas and notice a man pulling a donkey which is carrying a pregnant woman. If you have ever seen that painting, you know that it is easy to miss Mary and Joseph. You have to look hard, because their part seems so insignificant and unimportant in relationship to what is going on in the painting. Christmas can be a sad time because so many people miss the real point... and at Christmas they are so close.
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