Our nativity series looks at the goat -- a very conflicting part of the story but necessary for the total picture.

You don’t see the goat at the stall.
Paintings don’t show him there at all.
But he was there as I am told.
He was there in the old sheepfold.

Shepherds used him to lead the flock.
Out in front he would always walk.
He tried his best to do his part.
He loved to serve with all his heart.

He felt close to the baby boy
but this wasn’t a cause of joy.
He identified with this child
with some ideas that were so wild.

A scapegoat dies so others live.
This causes him his life to give.
The goat’s presence was a bold sign
of the future of the Divine.

All the goat could do was to stare
and wish he wasn’t really there.
But he knew so well in his mind
this sweet child would die for mankind.