Nativity Scenes

Once I saw a Renaissance painting of Jesus' birth in a museum. Jesus and his earthly parents were positioned under an elaborate stone architectural structure, and they and all of their visitors were richly and stylishly clothed. It looked to me as though the artist didn't realize that Jesus wasn't born in 16th century Italy.

Jesus' birth isn't a common subject for today's artists, even the Christian ones, but we still are familiar with a far-removed relative of that Medieval and Renaissance religious outlook, and that is the Nativity scene. Most of the American Nativity sets portray Jesus, his parents, and all of their visitors (with the occasional exception of a Magi or two) as white. Their clothes are often bright and colorful, though the era is ambiguous. Every once in a while you'll find a Nativity set that portrays Jesus and everyone else as black. And then at a craft show I saw a beautiful wooden Mexican-made Nativity set in which all the characters wore festive Mexican folk costumes.

I start to feel that Nativity scenes have nothing to do with the real Jesus and are made by people who don't really know Him. An empty tradition that does more harm than good, as it makes Christians look quite ignorant, not to mention racially divided. For the record, Jesus was Middle Eastern, dirt poor, and lived in the first century!

OK, not exactly.

Jesus is the Son of God, the Word become flesh, and He was in the beginning with God, before humankind even existed and before we had been inbred and developed the physiological characteristics we associate with different ethnicities today. Jesus is God, but He wore the body of a man for a little while. What that man looked like is completely irrelevant. What is relevant is that Jesus left behind the glory that was His in heaven and stepped down into our dirty, poor, sinful world. He didn't ask us to change a thing before He would touch us. Instead, He came as we were. Jesus stepped into the world of a Jewish carpenter and his fiancée who knew nothing but oppression and exploitation, but who had faith to follow God's plan. He stepped into the world of Renaissance noblemen who knew nothing but palaces and luxury, but who realized that Jesus was worthy of their worship. He stepped into my world, my quiet, insignificant middle-class American life, to save me and do what He wants with my life. Jesus meets us where we are. He is present in every Christian's life, no matter what their temporary body looks like or what sins they've committed or what condition their neighborhood is in.

After I had looked at the museum Nativity painting for a moment, I read the museum curator's notes on the placard next to it. It mentioned that the wealthy patron who had commissioned the painting was depicted in the painting, along with his family, bowing before Christ at His birth. The artist had not been trying at all to paint the historical birth of Jesus. This was an image of Jesus being born in the hearts of specific people with a unique life. They wanted to be able to look at this painting and be reminded that Christ came for their family, that He was their king, that their family should be worshipping Him.

Picture any Nativity you've ever seen. Christ came for people who look like that, whose lives looked like that. But there's more. There are Nativity scenes that have never been made that show how Jesus was born in caves, in apartment buildings, in mud huts, in castles, in cottages, in skyscrapers, in two-story suburban homes. The people worshipping at the manger are dark and pale and in-between. And they're all accurate. Jesus is here.

Gift Package Embellishments

These dazzling little gift toppers were so easy to make- and since I assembled them ahead of time, my Christmas Eve gift wrapping frenzy was (almost) stress-free. No ribbons and bows necessary!

I finished my Christmas present shopping on Christmas Eve, by the way. I always do. Life on the edge!*

The Sunday before Christmas my youngest sister Kayley and I had a spontaneous tag-making party. (Um, it would seem "tag" means a bit more to me than it does to some people.) We sat in my bedroom with all of our craft supplies, my twinkle lights sparkling, Michael O'Brien's Christmas music playing, a YouTube fire place blazing, and a real-life candle or two- the scented kind that fill the air with cinnamon and vanilla... I like the trappings of Christmas, but it's stuff I would like anyway!

* The Christmas I was 13 I had a really careless attitude toward presents- and everything else in life. That year was probably the closest I ever got to being a rebellious teenager. Anyway, this was before I had money to buy presents for my family, so usually I made them things. But for some reason Christmas Eve rolled around and I had only made a gift for my mom (It was a set of clothespin photo stands embellished with wooden snowflakes.) At some point the day before Christmas I realized that I needed to get some presents, so I quickly threw a craft or two together and then dug through my closet and drawers trying to find things for my sisters that they would like and that wouldn't be a really lame present. They were all really lame presents, and I didn't even have time to wrap them before I had to get ready for the Christmas Eve service. And then was supper and family time... and I didn't want to tell them that I still had to wrap presents. So I placed my presents and gift wrapping supplies where I could get them easily, set my alarm for 2 am, placed it under my pillow and went to sleep. Here the story could take a turn for the worse, but it didn't. I got up the instant the alarm went off, carried all my things into the bathroom (well, where else could I turn on a light and rumple wrapping paper around and not wake everybody up? I shared a room with Andrea) and wrapped my presents. Then I scooped up a bunch of stuff in my arms, turned off the light, opened the door wide- and dropped my scissors on the tile floor. To me it sounded like a whole bookshelf had toppled. I thought they would all come into the hall and fin me. My family are light sleepers. I still don't know how they didn't wake up- but none of them did.

I wish I could say I've changed my ways. I do care about my family much more now, and I think about presents well in advance of the holiday. But I'm still a procrastinator!

Pretty Sights This Week

Until I got my bunny I did not know that a relaxed and completely contented rabbit will flop down and stretch out, legs behind him. Whoever made up the term "kick back and relax" must have had a bunny. He's still sleepy, but my camera flash has put him on the alert!

The International Space Station is visible in the last picture. It's a tiny dot left-of-center; if you zoom in on your monitor you can see it much better. I'm so happy it came out!

Collection in Progress 1

I can't believe we're already 7 weeks into the semester! Nearly half over! And critique deadlines are approaching too soon!

Babylon Rising : My Thoughts

This summer I read Babylon Rising, a four-book series by Tim Lahaye (named after the first title in the series). I tend to forget what books are about after a while, even forget favorite characters' names (!). I finished reading this a few weeks ago, so this is how I remember it.

Titles: Babylong Rising, The Secret on Ararat, The Europa Conspiracy, The Edge of Darkness

Author: Tim Lahaye, co-authored by Greg Dinallo and Bob Phillips

Dates published: 2003-2006

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group

Characters:

Dr. Michael Murphy (who goes by "Murphy"): The protagonist, a Biblical archaeology professor and outdoorsy, adventure-seeking archaeologist with brawn and brains, outgoing and outspoken, quick to get impatient, seems to think he is invincible, firm in his Christian faith. Murphy is a man of God, and I appreciate his clean character, but combined with his superhuman athletic abilities and mental genius, he's just a little too perfect to be real. Never mind that though, he's my new literary crush; where is his real-life twin?!

Bob Wagoner: Murphy's pastor and accountability partner, gentle and loving to his congregation, always ready to humbly take a stand for the truth. That makes him sound like such a stereotypical minister, but in Bob these things are authentic.

Laura Murphy: Murphy's first wife, a college counselor who is genuinely kind and caring, adventurous and brave in her own right.

Dr. Isis McDonald: a reserved philologist who becomes a close friend of Murphy, focused and diligent in her work, naturally timid but driven by curiosity and a bit of headstrong pride, brave in spite of fear. In many ways she reminds me of myself. She starts off as the typical anti-social academic, but she is one of the few characters who undergoes radical change; she develops a much deeper character as the series went along.

Shari: Murphy's hardworking lab assistant, one of his most passionate students, and almost like a daughter to him, strong through a lot of grief, sympathetic to others. She's a really lovable and believable character; I wish the subplot surrounding her life went better, but then again, that's what made her believable.

Paul Wallach: an archaeology student and skeptic of Christianity, friend of Shari.

Methusaleh: Extremely wealthy, mysterious old man who stays out of the public eye, has little affection for other individuals but wants to see right win

The Seven: Group of seven powerful, arrogant individuals from around the world who are intentionally preparing the world for the Anti-Christ

Talon: The Seven's hired assassin, who takes a sickening pleasure in his work, and is completely indifferent toward any other human, caring only for his two killer falcons

Shane Barrington: One of the richest men in the world, owner of a major media corporation, calloused, cruel, and self-absorbed to an incredible extreme.

Stacy: Star reporter, very ambitious without much of a moral compass, but has a deeply buried inquisitive and open-minded side that is refreshing to see.

Plot:

Murphy has been receiving a series of cryptic message from a man who calls himself Methusaleh. Intrigued, he takes the bait each time, and each time ends up traveling to a deserted location where he fights for his life in an extreme physical challenge (wrestling a giant-sized man, fighting a ferocious lion, fighting three ninjas at once at an old abandoned theme park, etc). When he lives through each test, he gets a "reward": a clue telling him where to go to dig up an invaluable historical artifact that has mention in the Bible. He makes several stunning discoveries this way, including the head of Nebuchadnezzar's statue, the Brazen serpent, and the ark built by Noah. Murphy manages to survive and eagerly shares the facts with his archaeology students. However, his artifacts or the evidence of their existence are repeatedly stolen and anyone unlucky enough to be present is brutally murdered. Meanwhile, "terror attacks" are occurring in America, and Christians are blamed by the media. Laura is murdered in the aftermath of one of the early attacks. All of this is perpetrated by the Seven, via Talon. Murphy finally begins to get weary of Methusaleh's games and pursues Methusaleh's true identity and motivation. Methusaleh tells him about the Seven and their plan to institute a one-world religion and government, and Murphy goes after Talon before he can get the final artifact- bronze plates that contain crucial pre-Flood information for energy production- buried beneath the sea. Talon dies in their underwater confrontation, Murphy is seriously injured, and the Seven move forward unhindered.

Negative themes:

I don't like the relationship between Murphy and Isis. Granted, Murphy and Isis are adults, and not young adults either, but I wish their relationship were platonic. Isis and Murphy cuddle and kiss toward the end of the series. They go through some terrifying experiences together in their search for the Brazen serpent and subsequently experience the joy of their discovery and coming out alive at the other end of it all. I suppose one could say when two people go through that much together, how can they not care about each other deeply? But why didn't the author keep Laura alive for all that? She is murdered in the middle of the first book, which was extremely disappointing to me since I really liked the affectionate, pure married relationship between her and Murphy while it lasted.

Talon and his killing methods are disturbingly interesting. In fact, Talon might be the most fascinating character in the book. A lot of the characters are a bit predictable, but any time Talon shows up, he's doing something unheard-of. He didn't seem human in the first book, but his character got a little more developed in later books. He actually experiences fear at the hands of the Seven and grief at the death of his birds. We're only given vague hints at his past, but it seems that he had a sad childhood. We're never allowed to develop any compassion for him though; he's 100% villain. There is a lot of murder in these books. Most of the people who die are people we were just introduced to and haven't really come to love, and we move on easily. After a while, the deaths seem insignificant. I don't think the author meant it to come across that way, but I can't shake the feeling that it's wrong somehow.

Positive themes:

If God foretells it, it will come true. God has always kept His word in the past, so we know that He will keep His word in the future. Everything in Revelation will come to pass, from the rapture of Christians, to the Anti-Christ, to the return of Jesus as the Warrior-King to defeat his enemies and bring in the new heavens and earth. Lahaye tells the story of these prophecies in the Left Behind series, but in this series he focuses on biblical prophecy that has already been fulfilled. The artifacts that Murphy finds are from time periods when God was letting people in on future events. God told Noah that He would destroy the earth with a Flood, and He did. He told King Nebuchadnezzar about all of the world powers that would arise after him, and we have already seen most of them come and go already. God told King Belteshazzar that his kingdom would fall to the Medes and Persians, and it did unexpectedly- that very night. God's prophets are usually ridiculed or even silenced. Twenty-first century people are skeptical that there's a God and of course that He will really take His church to heaven and destroy the rest of the earth, and that's nothing new. It doesn't change the reality of what is and what will be.

Archaeology confirms the Bible. Murphy's archaeological finds are fictional of course, but in his class lectures he brings up past discoveries that have really happened, such as all the witnesses who have seen Noah's ark in the last hundred years or so. I would love to research in more detail from authoritative sources some of the things he touched on.

People already have the evidence they need to believe. I have wondered, as I know many other Christians and skeptics have too, why God doesn't just provide such indisputable evidence of His existence and His word that we'll be able to believe in Him without a doubt. If we found Noah's ark, for example, wouldn't people believe then? Nope, not according to Lahaye. People who approach with a firm belief that the Bible is a myth will find some reason, however slim, to explain the evidence in other terms. For example, one of the men on the Noah's ark expedition with Murphy commented that there has been plenty of time for someone to construct a fake ark and plant it on Ararat. That is true, of course, and even though it goes against the general direction of the evidence, it offers enough hope to a skeptic that they can avoid thinking about it. What's more, even if the evidence does point to Nebuchadnezzar or Noah or even Jesus as historical characters, people don't automatically go from there to making Jesus their Lord and Savior. On the plane home after the discovery of Noah's ark, Isis realizes that she believes that the worldwide flood really took place and Noah and his family really were saved on the ark. However, she doesn't become a Christian until quite a while later, and then it is mostly as a result of watching how Murphy lives his life and how he treats her so differently from the way other men she's known have treated her before. Most of Murphy's discoveries are never made secure enough or documented enough to publicize. The one that does get media attention- the golden head of Nebuchadnezzar's statue- doesn't seem to lead anyone to Christ. People think it's neat and then move on with life.

There is not a happily-ever-after on earth. The end of the fourth book is a let-down unless you let your imagination go way into the future- into eternity. Murphy gives everything had for the sake of making these discoveries and comes away with nothing to show for it. He loses his physical strength due to injury and can't do the activities he loves to do anymore. Isis seems to have a full life on her own, apart from him. It might seem worth it if lots of people had come to trust in God as a result of his work, but that's not the case. Not only did he lose possession of all the artifacts he found, but they're in the hands of people who will use them for evil. As the book closes, doom seems inevitable- and then you realize that it is. Good only wins when Jesus reveals himself and everything plays out in eternity. I had to ask myself, then should Murphy have done what he did? Was it a waste of his life to chase after these artifacts? Was that what God wanted him to do? And I think it was. Murphy's own faith was built up time after time, as was that of Shari and a few other Christians who got to hear and see these things from Murphy. And Shari and Murphy needed that encouragement, just because of their own trials. Even though the whole world didn't come to Christ because of Murphy, there are a handful of individuals who did- Isis and Stacy are two I know of for sure. Many other characters' final decisions are yet to be determined or simply unknown- again, a reminder that what we see on earth isn't the whole story.

Overall, a really good series.

Fall Wish List

These are a few things I want to experience and remember of fall 2013:

• Carve or drill a pretty pumpkin lantern.
• Finish my crochet blanket with a decorative edging.
• Take a bike ride in a wooded area on a beautiful day.
• Make cinnamon scented pine cones.
• Drink a pumpkin chai latte for breakfast.
• Crochet a pair of fingerless gloves.
• Bake some sweet autumn treat for my family.
• Dress up as a character for my preschool students on Halloween.
• Go on a nature walk and take photographs of my surroundings.
• Discover and listen to fall-inspired music and Thanksgiving songs.
• Buy a pair of boots.
• Alter and/or refashion a couple beautiful knit sweaters I already have.

Fall Pleasures

Lately I've been obsessed with fall. Which season it is doesn't make a difference at all in my daily life, and that's kind of sad. I want to experience each season fully. Fall is an easy one to start with. I saw this little questionnaire on a blog and it was the perfect way to express my fall nostalgia.

1) What's your favorite season? (Don't be afraid to answer any season other than fall, if it's truly your favorite season!)

My favorite season iiiiiiiiiis: fall! I'll save my reasoning for the resonse to the next question:
  

2) What's your favorite part of autumn?

The weather finally cools down (somewhat, like in late November) after the looooong Texas summer.

I like the cold fronts themselves, those dark masses of clouds with a definite edge that I can watch approaching, feeling the chill wind whip my hair around.

When the temperatures and the humidity go down, everything seems cleaner, and even the sounds of nature outside are crisper. The interstate is about a mile from my house, and on cold mornings, I can hear it as a soft rushing noise; it's an unusual thing to like, but to me that says fall.

You know, I can't imagine that northerners appreciate autumn the way a southerner can. Yes, their season gets colder, but it's the normal state of things there; here, where autumn and winter together only consist of 25% of our year, they are truly special.

I like the smell of cinnamon and the sight of warm reds and oranges (not on trees; here that means a tree is dead. But the pumpkins and candles and all the other decorations still give me that cozy autumnal feeling, even if they must be commercially manufactured).

To top it all off, I like the anticipation that Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming, when I can count on festivities to shake up my routine-oriented life!

  

3) What's your favorite memory of autumns past? 

For years, my sisters and I would run out to the patio on the first day of fall and claim that the air felt cooler, and it really did.

I liked to sit outside on the patio to do my school work on clear, chilly days, and ride my bike as a cold front blew through in the afternoon.

As a little girl I loved collecting pine cones and acorns on walks with my family, then drawing faces on the acorns and making construction paper feathers to turn the pine cones into the cutest little turkeys.

I got so excited when we got out the boxes of winter clothes, tried them on to see what still fit, and then went shopping for new fall clothes.

I also loved going to Garden Ridge to shop for Advent candles and other holiday decorations with my mom. The store smelled like cinnamon; just walking in made me excited.

  

4) What's some of your favorite autumn foods?

  
Stuffed acorn squash, butternut squash soup, applesauce strudel muffins, my own homemade pumpkin chai latte, and all of the Thanksgiving foods (except for turkey. I tolerate it for the sake of tradition.)

5) What's some of your favorite things to do in the autumn days?

I still like to take walks and bike rides (in fact, my sister and I rode our bikes this very 50-degree morning. Bliss!)

On cooler days I try to do anything and everything that I would normally do indoors outdoors- hand sewing, reading. I even like to do yard work with my dad on autumn mornings.

My dad builds lots of wood fires in the fireplace on late autumn and winter evenings; my family likes to snuggle up in front of the flames to talk or read or just work on our projects.

I like to crochet new winter accessories, and there is a crochet blanket which I have been working on for about 4 years, which it is about time to finish!

  

6) What's your favorite autumn wardrobe additions? (Scarfs, gloves, socks, jackets, leggings, etc.)

  
My burgandy tights and my fur vest.

7) Does your family have any autumn traditions? (Pumpkin patch picking, Thanksgiving, etc.)
  
Most of our traditions center around holidays. On Thanksgiving we have the same meal every year and linger over it as long as possible, and after dinner we usually take a walk in the dark and play games. The day after Thanksgiving we decorate the house for Christmas.

8) Hot cocoa or apple cider? Do you like to add anything to it such as marshmallows or ice cream?

Apple cider. Since it's not so sugary, I can drink more of it!

9) Pecan pie or pumpkin pie? Why?

Pumpkin! The creaminess and the whipped cream that goes with it! But apple wasn't an option; if it was, that might have changed things...

10) Which is your favorite month, September, October or November? Why?

November. That's when I can finally say it's really fall!