Manger Action

I sat at the breakfast table this morning by myself, thinking over my grits, orange and coffee. I was soaking in the Christmas tree, the gifts, the Christmas city on the mantle, the manger scene that we put up every year on the coffee table. The manger scene is what really got me thinking. Manger scenes are always so static and everyone is always doing the same thing, sitting in awe of baby Jesus. I think that maybe, it looked a little more like this: [pardon my art skills, friends.]




I don't mean to suggest that the event is any less holy than it has been portrayed in years past, I just think, shouldn't holy moments inspire the most emotion, or motion? When people come in contact with the holiness of God in the Bible, we see them removing shoes, covering their faces or falling on them, even dying. I know it's for the sake of the pictures, but I just don't think that when people encountered Jesus, even as a baby, it inspired them to have a seat.

Luke 2 says, "So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

[I have bolded all the action words, for your reading pleasure.] Even Mary, who might have been quietly sitting, had an active mind, full of wondering.

Matthew 2 gives us the account of the wise men saying, "When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh."

Jesus inspires action and emotion once again. May Jesus inspire action and emotion in your heart this Christmas. May Christmas not be dull and the same, but so fresh and life giving.


currently listening to: Dean Martin, Christmas with Dino
currently baking: pecan pie