The ornate nativity set stood out among the knickknacks, dishes, and other odds and ends on the thrift store shelf. Fine ivory porcelain, jeweled edges, and delicate hand painting drew my eye as a nativity collector, but I wasn’t the only one.
I waited patiently as the young mom in front of me picked up the pieces, tracing the jeweled edges with her finger while she oohed and ahhhed. At her side, her young son, with perfectly round face and jet-black hair shooting in all directions, looked up intently, big dark eyes troubled. I could understand his concerned question despite my limited Spanish: “¿No bebe Jesús, Mamá?”
“No bebé, Mijo,” she replied softly, and somewhat sadly, I thought.
Surprised, I returned my attention to the nativity set, and, sure enough, despite its ornate beauty and quality, the collection was missing its most important figure.
I smiled as the boy pulled his hand free from his mother and scampered over to the next row of shelves cluttered with brightly colored toys of unimaginable variety. He fell to his knees, and I heard the clatter as he began pulling toys off the shelf, looking at them closely.
My mind wandered back to the nativity and paused. Such a vivid analogy of what Christmas has become in our American culture. All the beauty and decoration and finery, but too often without the central figure of the season. Baby Jesus is missing. We get so caught up in the lights and decorations, work and family gatherings, cantatas and candlelight services—all good things, mind you—that we sometimes take the focus from the tiny figure in the manger.
Suddenly, I heard the patter of small feet as the boy dashed back up to his mother with chubby hand outstretched. “¡El bebé, Mamá! ¡el bebé!”
My heart melted as she took a plastic Fisher-Price Little People™ figure from his fingers. She looked down at her son tenderly for a moment, then rumpled his hair and carefully placed the plastic figure at the center of the beautiful porcelain collection. He beamed up at her and offered a single word: “Bueno.”
Good, indeed, to find an unexpected (and less than expected) figure lying at the center of the nativity. Sounds biblical to me.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
—John 1:11-12
About the Columnist:Eric K. Thomsen is managing editor of ONE Magazine.
