Ox Ray

All Bovines Deserve A Stable Environment

Photograph copyright: DAVID McMAHON

Yesterday, I was taking photographs at St Paul’s Cathedral when I suddenly noticed this section of a stained-glass window near the main entrance. If you're wondering why a humble cow should be featured in a place of worship, there is a specific reason.

If you remember, there was no room at the inn and Joseph and his heavily pregnant wife Mary were allowed to shelter in the stable. As the words to the beautiful Christmas carol remind us, it was just a "lowly cattle shed" where "the cattle are lowing".

Every year when I was little, our Sunday School class regarded the Nativity Play as the highlight of the year. Every student played a part - and a major highlight of my own theatrical progress was when I made the giant leap from playing the role of a cow to the year I was promoted and played Gabriel.

A few months ago, when I was in northern India for five days, I saw a scene that would have to be fairly rare in the twenty-first century. On a busy national highway, in the mellow light of a late winter afternoon, the flow of high-speed traffic was significantly impeded by a procession of bullock carts carrying heavy loads. You can see the photograph at What A Load Of Bullocks.

Here's a thought. Maybe Hugh Hefner would have had to change his name if he had started a farmyard magazine instead of Playboy. He could have swapped his given name for Hugh Hoofner.

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