Nacimiento~ Nativity

Our Nativity collection began with these olive wood figurines, a gift from Saundra--probably in the early 1970s. We loved the olivey smell and the fact that they came from the Holy Land. Another Saundra gift was a beautifully illustrated book, The Christ Child with the text from St. Luke. It has been the narration to our family's nativity play for at least forty years.

When we lived in Germany, we took little Shawn to Nurenburg and the Christmas Market, where we bought this nativity in 1971. Our tree that year was decorated with flat wooden ornaments that we painted from a kit, and we somehow found the money to buy Shawn a little green trike with room for a passenger on the back--he gave rides to his little sister after she was born two months later.

When our children were  small they made this little bread-dough nativity with instructions from The Children's Friend--and a lot of help from the mother. The recipe was simply Wonder-type bread and Elmer's glue. Believe me, it was not easy to make fluffy bread and glue into a smooth paste. But hey! It hardened to a ceramic-like material and has lasted a good many years.

This (American) nativity was a gift from the family of several students that I taught at Morgan Elementary. The year before, they had given me money. After I sent a thank-you note telling them I'd used it for classroom materials, they tricked me, and gifted me with a certificate to the Rock Loft, a cute shop with nothing that would be useful for school. I have loved it for twenty years.

On a sisters trip to Guadalajara, Mexico (a spa vacation in which we all probably gained weight on the wonderful fresh food), I found this nativity. It reminds me of a long hike we took with a guide who took no food or water because he said he enjoyed being really, really hungry and thirsty before satisfying that urge. Never actually having been hungry, I could not relate; but I'm going to try it sometime. These slender figurines look a little hungry.

In Uganda, I had the choice of fabulous ebony wood carved figures, or this banana leaf nativity. I'm not sure if the price was a deterrent, but my selection, as always, was toward folk art. I'm sure I'll find baby Jesus once the holidays are over, but He seems to have disappeared for now.

Why wouldn't a Peruvian pesebre (nativity in Chile) not have a llama? And the cathedral in Lima has a painting of the Last Supper in which the disciples are eating cuy, a.k.a. guinea pig. I tried a piece that was about a square centimeter in size to say I had. It tastes like chicken. Paul made the sweet rock and wood stable.

Family reunion rock painting resulted in this stone representation of the Holy Family.

This one is from Z.C.M.I. Who knew this institution would ever become a thing of the past?

In a little town near the farm where we served our mission in Chile, clay objects of all types can be found, but the only pesebres I could see were these odd little animals sheltering the entire nativity. The one with the prickly pear cactus is endearing to me. We saw so many "tunas" (the fruit) and marveled at how they could be harvested and enjoyed almost universally.

Finally, my wool pesebre. I had seen a similar one at a yarn exposition in Santiago but didn't buy it, thinking I'd see them all over. Not so! I searched for months, finally finding a woman in Melipilla at a local craft fair. When I explained what I wanted, she said she would make one especially for me, but what figures did I want? Of course, I needed sheep, Mary and Joseph and the baby. What else? Well, how about a donkey? We gave her our contact information, and a couple of weeks later, she called to say they were ready. We met her at the town square. I think she was as proud as I was thrilled with how they turned out. You just can't imagine how adorable this little set is! The baby's little hands up near his mouth, Mary with her arms clasped, the burro's little haunches, the curly little sheep. I'm so in love with it!

 Christmas is the time of year to think about a young girl, a virgin, delivering her child; but not just her child, not just any child: God's child, our child, the Savior of the World. He came to earth as we all did, helpless and innocent, needing all the care that Mary and Joseph could give him until they gradually realized that He was the one who would ultimately care for them, and for us. He would save us from ourselves. He would show us how to love and how to forgive and how to live. My nativities remind me of my debt to Him and my love for Him.

Merry Christmas!