Away With the Manger

 Quick, before you pack it up, go check your manger scene. Is the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes like the one on the back cover of my children's book, When Christmas Feels Like Home?

Or is Baby Jesus lying in a manger with His arms splayed outward and legs crossed at the ankles, like in this one I found at the chapel of our church?

There's a reason for both. The first comes from scripture, the second chapter of Luke in the seventh verse, "...she wrapped him in swaddling clothes..." That's how I pictured a manger. I never looked deeper into the nearest nativity scene or creche to pay attention. That is, until I became a docent at author Jan Karon's Mitford Museum. We (I use the pronoun "we" because everyone involved with the museum feels like it is a part of them) walk visitors through the galleries, offering details about the items on display. 

My favorite of all is the gigantic nativity scene under a Christmas tree adorned with ornaments fans gave Jan. But on the floor beneath the tree is the real show stopper - a beautiful creche, hand painted and restored from the decrepit condition Jan found it in when she first laid eyes on it in the window of an antique store in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. She located a person to research the origins of creches and the significance of the colors of each character's clothing, someone who would restore it to its original magnificence. And there it lays, year-round for all to enjoy.

It's the baby that I point out. (I snipped this photo from the Mitford facebook site.)

Notice anything different from the swaddling clothes? 

There this Holy Baby is, his arms splayed, his ankles crossed. There's a deep intentional purpose here. This figure shows not only the birth of the Christ Child, but also the death. He is in the crucifix position. There in the manger is the child/man, fully God, fully man, foreshadowing what we know is to come for him. We can't celebrate the manger without remembering the real reason for the season.

So, now, go check the creche in your home. Look at the Christmas cards you received. Let me know if you discover anything special. 

Do away with the manger and think of the cross.

Catch of the day,

Gretchen