I suppose being a shepherd in Christmas pageants of yore has conditioned me to associate burlap with the Christmas story. Mothers sew it into simple, pullover garments that cover boys' blue jeans and striped T-shirts. Girls get to be angels in white satin dresses, with wings and halos. But boys in their burlap tell the story of Christmas far better than girls in their satin. Let me tell you why.
Angels are clean.
Angels are beautiful. They seem almost otherworldly, since girl angels always seem to know their parts better than do boy shepherds. The angelic satin stuff goes pretty well in most Christmas pageants. The problems come with the burlap part. Townspeople looked down on them.