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Ox and Ass
in Waiting
Eduardo Borja
Cruz
Ecuador
The tableau
betrays an unusual degree of activity. The many exquisitely crafted paper-cut
figures are busily tending to the many needs of human life. In contrast, the
faces are like wooden masks, impassive and impenetrable, their movements those
of puppets on a string. Joseph and Mary, on their way to Bethlehem, are passing
through this human mass, unnoticed. Dressed like mourners, their passage makes
no waves. It will not stop the mindless bustle. But at the end of the road two
animals lie in waiting. Ox and ass are lying in waiting knowing their master.
They understood what was to come, whereas the people of God did not understand
(Isaiah 1, 3). This is how ox and ass became the most faithful companions of the
Christ Child. |