I Believe in Christmas

I collect Nativity sets. My most precious is an all white porcelain Avon one that goes up high for eyes only.
No little fingers can move Mary along or swipe Baby Jesus off of the hay. No dog's tail can swish a wise man to the floor; no elbows reaching for ornaments can knock an angel from on high.
Axel, who is 12 now, and I, took each piece from it's royal blue box and then from it's white styrofoam block.  We took turns choosing a place on the old mantle piece for each member of the cast. We have a donkey and three cows, camels, sheep and shepherds, wise men and angels and the treasured Holy Family. 
My mantle is small for this Nativity set, so we had to rearrange often as we kept opening boxes. 
Would the Wise Men have stood all together?  Would they have stood next to the shepherds and the sheep? Would the Angel of the Lord have stood back or been front and center? Where would the tired donkey have chosen to rest?  Would he lie down where he could see the new babe, or away from the awestruck crowd? 
For me, putting up the Nativity scenes, is one of the great joys of Advent . This set is very special to me and is the anchor for all of the celebrations in our home.  No matter where I am in the house, my eyes wander toward the sight of it and in an instant I am centered.  The Holy Family.  The Christ Child. In the catch phrase of our time,  "the reason for the season." which is so true and so very easy to forget. 
Over the next several days Axel and I will put out all of my many nativities. Some are made of wood, some are plastic,one is stone.  My house will be adorned with angels and wise men, shepherds and sheep and cattle lowing. My nativities are big and small, short and tall, simple and ornate. There will be many that the little hands of grandchildren can arrange and rearrange to their hearts content. A few will be out of reach brought down only for ooohing and aaaahing, for the story of how they came to be mine, who gave them to me or where I found them myself, what country they came from.  Inevitably, at some point, one of my children or grandchildren will say " I want that one. I want that one! "  What they mean is  they want that one - when I die.
This conversation does not upset me for I will die, but the good news is this.  I BELIEVE in the message of the Christ Child!.  I believe in Away in a Manger and Joy to the World  but I also believe that Christmas is the beginning of the story, not the end.  In the end, we have Christ the Lord is Risen Today and  Amazing Grace. In the end, we will all be rejoicing together, not here, but in heaven - what ever that might be. The songs of Advent give way to the songs of Christmas and Easter, of Resurrection and Everlasting Life. And I am thrilled to know that when I die, my many beautiful nativity sets will grace the mantle pieces and coffee tables of my offspring. When they gather they will talk of angels and babies in mangers and of Gramma Bevy who used to have this one on her mantle piece in the old house on Garden Street.And they will say Gramma BELIEVED .
 I  BELIEVE and so, though I will not always be here to open these boxes and place these porcelain figures of Mary and Joseph and the babe on this mantle piece,  with these children and grandchildren who I love, I will live on in Christmas and other memories and I will not be alone. I BELIEVE and so I will always be with The Christ Child.  For me, that is the true meaning of Merry Christmas.