When I was a child, we had a wooden Nativity. It is the same nativity that you will still find in my parents’ home each December. It is similar to the one in the picture, but the stable was much larger. My sister and I used to argue (oh the irony) over the setup of the figures in the stable. There was of course baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, a handful of animals, and, though they arrived later in the Biblical narrative, our nativity included the wisemen.
Every day, we would rotate who got to set up the scene. There was a very small second level on the left of the stable, a hay loft of sorts. For some reason as a child, I always thought that was a good place to put the cow, who was already laying down. How would a cow get to the hay loft? I have absolutely no idea. But in my mind, it looked good laying in the balcony, overlooking the scene.
It is interesting to reflect on those nativity scenes. No matter how either of us set the figures, the location of baby Jesus never changed. We would move every character and every animal around in the stable, including switching Mary and Joseph. However, baby Jesus never moved. He was always in the center. We would place every character, in our own way, but they always faced the center toward the manger. They were focused on Jesus laying in the hay. The newborn Son of God was–is–the center of the nativity.
Over the next two weeks, we will have gatherings and parties, family time and friend time. There will be lots of busyness that happens as we approach and just after Christmas Day. We have spent this month preparing our hearts and minds for this, and now it is time to celebrate. Let us remember in our scenes, no matter what the characters around us look like, our focus should be on baby Jesus.
The King is here. Jesus is born. Hallelujah.
Merry Christmas Poplar Springs,
Aaron
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