Christmas Scenes in the Neighborhood and the Greatest Gift.

Joseph, Mary and Immanuel

A drive through my neighborhood on Thanksgiving revealed the nativity scene which seemed strangely out of place among the snowmen, nutcrackers, Santa and Elves.  Here we see the lowly couple huddled by the side of a basket that is baring their infant son.  Far from being the center of this Christmas scene the depiction of the birth of Immanuel has been shunted off to one side and center stage is occupied by what seems as a legion of snowmen and other characters popular in today's Christmas regalia.  I am not chastising the person who has created this scene.  It is actually quite a delightful scene and the legion of snowmen is quite intriguing gathered as they are as a group - perhaps to sing Christmas carols or something like that.  It is clear that this home owner enjoys the Christmas season and has gone to some length to give their neighbors something to smile about.  I admit that the scene gave me a big smile when I first saw it and I made a point of returning to photograph it later.  In fact I had not noticed the nativity scene over to the right at first.  I didn't realize it was there until the second time I passed the scene.

The Adoration of the Shepherds, by Guido Reni.
Included here under the Creative Commons Licence
from the National Gallery, London England

Clearly this home owner has not left out the reason for the season, they have just moved it slightly off to one side.  Maybe in some sense they wanted to keep the two scenes slightly separate.  Allowing the viewer to take in the awe of the birth of the Son of God away from the hustle and bustle of the excitement of gift giving, caroling and snowball fights.  There is a thread between the two that makes them inseparable, no matter how much modern society tries to separate them.  Many books, articles and blogs have probably been written documenting the reasons for the link, but I will suffice to suggest that the common thread between the two is the joy of giving.  And in this case, giving of a gift.  In the scene at right, depicted by Guido Reni - an Italian artist of the 17th century, the shepherds have gathered around the Christ child and angels observe from above.  The story is recounted in Luke 2:8-20.  Reni is in effect combining two scenes from the story.  Scene one is the announcement by angels that the Christ is born in Bethlehem.  Scene two is the visitation of the same shepherds to the manger where the child lay with his parents at his side.  I love the old masters and the way they are able to bring to these scenes the majesty of the stories of the Bible.  If you know Christ these scenes touch your heart like no others.

Angels announcing the birth of Christ to the shepherds - Govert Flinck.  From Wikipedia
This is a public domain image.

Now I have to admit that I don't actually know why the home owner has set up their scene as they have.  I am just conjecturing.  However, as home owners usually don't post a sign near their scenes with that information the viewer is left to contemplate what they are viewing.  I like that.  It allows me the opportunity to think about what I am seeing and draw my own conclusions as to the meaning.  Speaking of contemplating what one sees:  the painting at left, by Govert Flinck - a 17th century Dutch painter and student of Rembrandt, is a depiction of the New Testament scene from Luke 2 of the angels announcing to the shepherds that the Christ is born in Bethlehem.  The joy of the angels as they tell of the gift of the Christ is evident in this scene by Flinck.  This was no ordinary or trivial gift.  This was none other than God coming to live among his creation and for the salvation of men.  I love the delightful little angels holding hands as they fly in a circle above the shepherds, obviously overjoyed by the news they have to bring.  Flinck's imagination may be getting a little wild here as I don't recall the old or new testaments depicting angels as children.  But God certainly has not revealed everything there is in heaven, so maybe we can allow Flinck a bit of artistic licence.

I want to look at that gift a little closer and how the thread of the gift of Christ leads to our celebration of Christmas.  In a recent interview on Fox I heard Bill Bennett describe his new book, "The True Saint Nicholas, Why He Matters To Christmas."  I have placed a link to the book at the end of this article if you are interested in checking it out.  I first heard about Saint Nicholas as a child from our mother, who often left candy by our beds from Saint Nic.  That was on December 6th.  I always thought that Saint Nicholas was German because of my mothers ritual and that it originated the middle ages.  But the story, as told by Bill Bennett, is older than that and originates in Lycia - in Anatolia, in what is now modern day Turkey.  The story of Saint Nicholas is the story of how we got Santa Claus and it is worth reading about.

Bennett tells how NORAD started doing its Santa Claus tracking broadcasts because a little boy dialed the wrong number.  He tells of how the story of Saint Nicholas recently brought hope to millions in Russia and of a Greek orthodox church rebuilt after 9-11.  There are several ways to get the book.. I will probably buy it for my Kindle one day so I can read it in full.  It will make a good Christmas gift and a good book to read to your children or grandchildren.  It is only 128 pages

I pray as you think about the things I have shared and contemplate the paintings seen here that the meaning of the Gift that was given on the first Christmas will fill your heart with hope and joy.  If you get a chance use your favorite search engine to look for more works by the masters on the theme of the birth of Christ.  There are some really impressive works out there.  And finally, let me leave you with one more image from my shoot today!

All aboard the Santa Train!  Woo! Woo!