Monday 12 December 2011

Dung

N.B. All of the following 13 blogs are because I am reading ‘Do Nothing, Christmas Is Coming’ by Stephen Cottrell, ‘an advent calendar with a difference.’

The children performed their Christmas nativity yesterday, and it was every bit as cute and adorable as I thought it would be. But I can’t helping thinking that if the real ‘first Christmas’ was shown on stage, if we would even allow our children to watch.

The figures we place in our nativity scene rarely represent the true nature of the Virgin birth. Jesus seems to always be white with blonde hair for starters. Mary always looks perfect, even though she’s just given birth without painkillers. And there are three kings, who actually didn’t visit the stable at all. (Everyone seems to miss that in the original story…) As well as that, wooden or plastic figures don’t smell as bad as the real thing probably would have.

And yet, even though we know it’s not really how it was, it becomes something of a wonder. All these strange visitors, coming to see a tiny baby, born in a smelly stable surrounded by animals and their droppings. (Yes, most modern day nativities are missing a good bit of cow dung.)

DNCIC recommendations for today:
• Why do we put these figures in the crib?
• Who are they?
• What does their story say to us?
• Where do we enter in?
• Dare I stop and look inside?
• Is this a story of God come down to earth? Or jus another bit of childhood to be left behind?

Christmas is not as much about opening presents as opening our hearts.” Janice Maeditere



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