 St Alban’s Episcopal Church Bolivar, Missouri Tuesday, December 20, 2022 A Different sort of Creche All peoples shall come… In front of the altar in the Church we have a simple, large, straw-filled manger. Four times in the last 20 years it has held a real baby for Christmas Eve. This year there is no live newborn – but the empty manger tells its own story. But in the parish hall there is a huge creche scene – not a historically accurate one, but a theologically perfect one! In it you will find many of the peoples of the world coming to find the newborn child who is the “Savior of the Nations” as we sing. There are shepherds in the fields, and pottery makers, vegetable sellers, a woodcutter, a woman grinding grain, and a whole lot of people from all over the world simply minding their own business. You will see musicians, dancers, and storytellers from many nations and cultures. You will even find the late Queen Elizabeth. And just when you think you know where the manger is, you will spot another one. The birth of a poor infant to peasant people occurs again and again across our planet – and in each one, we find the face of the One who came to show us that God IS with us. We will leave this up until our Epiphany service on the Sunday after Ryan’s ordination so that everyone can see it. Children MAY touch, but please help them touch gently. Queen Elizabeth is the oldest figure, given to me on the occasion of he coronation in 1953. But others are 40-50 years old. And yes occasionally one breaks. If that happens, and it did today as we were setting it up, it isn’t cause for anxiety. All is well.        The figures and animals have come to us from many countries: Italy, Greece, Nepal, Korea, China, France, Russia, Poland, Switzerland, Mexico, Holland, Guatemala, India, Japan, Indonesia, Spain, Haiti, Brazil, Afghanistan, England, Honduras. Israel, Thailand, Egypt, Germany, Kenya, Nigeria, Sweden, Iceland, New Guinea, Australia (look for the tiny kangaroo!), Canada, South Africa, Botswana and Bolivia. You can’t see them all in these photos – come and see~In all of them, all the time, God IS with us.  |
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