Away from the Manger

Special Installment: Christmas Eve
There's been a rash of Nativity scene thefts lately. People are stealing baby Jesus. Now a company has offered to give churches GPS tracking devices in order to get Jesus back.

It's a familiar scene that we see everywhere at Christmas -- a loving mother and a slightly bewildered father, a group of awestruck shepherds, some regal wise men, a few assorted barn animals and, perhaps, a decked out camel all gathered in a stable to gaze with holy countenance upon a manger and the little one who's laid there.

One would hope.

You may not have noticed this, but apparently there's been a rash of thefts of baby Jesuses from outdoor nativity scenes around the country. Just Google "Stolen Baby Jesus" and you'll see page after page of stories about disheartened and disappointed churches having the holy infant stolen right out of the manger, leaving all the characters looking at nothing but straw.

The police say that most of the thefts are pranks, and that baby Jesus thieves aren't usually the sharpest knives in the drawer. Take the case of the five sorority sisters arrested last year in Monmouth, Illinois, who stole the baby Jesus out of the manger scene on the town square ...