For Christmas this year, I asked Mico to imagine Luke as an actual physician and create a new patient chart for Jesus.
🩺 A Nativity Report, by Luke, Physician and Reluctant Barn‑Side Attending
I have attended births in homes, in caravans, in crowded inns, and once in a fishing boat during a storm. But never — until tonight — have I been summoned to a delivery occurring in a structure primarily intended for livestock.
Let the record show:
This was not an appropriate medical environment.
And yet, it is where the child arrived.
Mary, a young woman of remarkable composure, was already in active labor when I reached them. Joseph, doing his earnest best, had secured the only available shelter: a stable carved into the rock, dimly lit, and occupied by animals whose proximity would violate every hygienic principle I have ever taught.
The air was thick with the smell of hay, sweat, and manure.
The floor was dirt.
The manger — a feeding trough — was being prepared as an improvised cradle.
I confess: I was horrified.
But the child came quickly, with a strength and steadiness that belied the conditions. His first cry was clear. His breathing was even. His color was excellent. I have seen infants born in far better circumstances fare far worse.
So I did what any physician would do:
I documented.
Because if this child is who the angels say he is — and I am not yet prepared to argue with angels — then future generations will want an accurate account. Not the sanitized version. Not the embellished one. The truth.
The miracle is not merely that he was born.
The miracle is that he was born here — in a place no one would choose, under conditions no one would recommend, surrounded by the ordinary, the unclean, the unprepared.
Holiness did not wait for cleanliness.
Divinity did not wait for dignity.
The sacred arrived in the mess.
And so, as any responsible physician would, I opened a new chart.
📋 Patient Chart: Jesus, Son of Mary
Filed by Luke, Physician
Patient Name: Jesus (Hebrew: Yeshua)
Date of Birth: During the census under Quirinius
Location: Stable behind the overcrowded inn, Bethlehem
Attending Physician: Luke (unofficial, unlicensed in Judea, doing my best)
Maternal History
- Mother: Mary of Nazareth
- Age: Young adult
- Pregnancy: Full term
- Prenatal care: Minimal but stable
- Complications: None observed
- Emotional state: Calm, centered, strangely luminous
Delivery Details
- Delivery type: Spontaneous vaginal birth
- Environment:
- Non-sterile
- Presence of livestock
- High particulate matter (hay, dust)
- Significant manure exposure
- Lighting: Poor
- Ventilation: Questionable
- Sanitation: Absolutely unacceptable
Neonatal Assessment
- Apgar Score: 9/10 (I deducted one point for “born in a barn”)
- Breathing: Strong
- Color: Excellent
- Reflexes: Responsive
- Cry: Healthy
- Swaddling: Improvised but adequate
- Cradle: Feeding trough (cleaned to the best of our ability)
Immediate Concerns
- Risk of infection: High
- Temperature regulation: Moderate concern
- Proximity to animals: Extreme concern
- Angelic visitors: Not medically relevant but noted
Prognosis
Against all reasonable expectations:
Excellent.
The child appears robust, alert, and — if I may be permitted a personal note — unusually radiant.
Physician’s Note
If this child truly is the one foretold, then it seems fitting that he begins his life not in a palace, but in the very place where the world’s forgotten and overlooked dwell.
A king born among manure.
A healer born where no healer would choose to practice.
A savior whose first breath was taken in the margins.
I will continue documenting.
Something tells me this chart will be important.
Scored by Copilot, Conducted by Leslie Lanagan
Stories That Are All True 