Mary Had A Baby Pooch

Nativity scene on display in Perstorps kyrka, Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For those of us who are detail people, I don’t know if there is a single truly accurate nativity set or painting out there, anywhere. Even discounting the fact that no one knows what Mary or Joseph looked like, how many shepherds, etc were there, or even what the manger looked like, every single nativity scene or figurine of Mary the mother of Jesus that I have seen depicted her as being radiant, with perfect hair and beautiful skin and a nice flat tummy tucked behind her belt. In real life, Mary had a baby pooch. She had, after all, just given birth. She probably also was exhausted and had circles under her eyes. Joseph might have looked a little haggard too.

When I was a kid, I used to let it bother me that most nativity scenes I came across depicted Mary as a blue-eyed blonde. Didn’t anyone read their Bible and know that Mary and Joseph were Hebrews? I have since seen many different nativity scenes featuring several nationalities but it no longer bothers me. I guess I decided that the intended message being conveyed wasn’t that Mary looked like this or that but that Jesus came for ALL mankind. 

Sometimes we can get so caught up in the details of something that we miss the simplicity. The beautiful, simple truth of Christmas is that God loved us and sent his Son, and loves us still.

I hope your Christmas this year is sweet and simple, and I mean that in the best possible way.

Merry Christmas!