The Nativity Scene is a Christmas classic, depicting the birth of Jesus Christ in a stable.
In a classic Nativity Scene, there are some key elements:
- Mary and Joseph, Jesus' parents
- Shepherds, who followed the Star to find the stable and witness the birth of Christ
- Three Wise Men, who brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh to celebrate Jesus's birth
- Sheep, because it's a barn
- Baby Jesus (duh)
What you don't usually see, however, is a cat. Like, a real live cat. Just hanging out in the Nativity Scene. That is, unless, you live in New York City.
Photographer Brooke Goldman was out for a stroll after walking with her boyfriend to catch his train out of town. On her way home, she stumbled across something she couldn't help but take a picture of.
"I was pretty out of it," Goldman told The Dodo. "I was trying to get home as fast as possible to go back to sleep and wasn't ready for the day at all."
Goldman walked past a Nativity Scene, when she had to do a double-take. Instead of Baby Jesus, there was a large, rather cranky, feline.
"I was laughing my ass off," she said.
Despite the cat being clearly grumpy that someone was disturbing him, Goldman says it brought her a big laugh.
"I guess you can definitely say he brought me joy while I was walking home. It was mood-lifting, most definitely," she said. "Laughing that hard that early in the morning makes the rest of the day much more positive."
There's a lot of questions to be asked, but I think there's one that's the most glaring: is the cat on Baby Jesus? Or did he just toss the Lord away to make room?
Either way, it's always funny to see what cats get up to when they're left to their own devices!
