McGrath Institute Blog

Take a moment to visualize the Nativity scene that was in your home as a child. Try to see it through your childhood eyes once again. What do you see? Do you remember that sense of wonder as you look at that familiar figurine of baby Jesus in the manger?

Editorial Note: This series features Nativity sets from Africa on display in the McGrath Institute for Church Life’s Sixth Annual International Crèche Exhibit.

Although Christmas Day has passed, and the holiday music in stores and the lights on houses have disappeared, we are nevertheless still in the liturgical season of Christmas, which lasts until the Baptism of the Lord. Though the excitement and busy planning for Christmas Day can occupy our minds, making January a welcome relief from the intensity of a holiday season, the Christmas season invites us to ponder how the birth of Christ accompanies us even as we return to a normal rhythm of life.

For anyone working in ministry, or any parent, or really any human being, the emotional spectrum of the days leading up to Christmas can often range from stressful to beyond chaotic. In a time that is supposed to be about ‘peace on earth toward people of good will,’ these days can feel anything but peaceful, and the risk of burnout becomes very real. 

Editorial Note: This series features Nativity sets from Africa on display in the McGrath Institute for Church Life’s Sixth Annual International Crèche Exhibit. 

Editorial Note: This series features Nativity sets from Africa on display in the McGrath Institute for Church Life’s Sixth Annual International Crèche Exhibit.

Though the Christmas story centers around the joy of the birth of Jesus, who will bring “peace on earth,” and the promise of “God and sinners reconciled,” it nevertheless leaves important space for the darkness and difficulty of human life. From Mary’s fearful awe at the momentous Annunciation to the flight of the Holy Family into Egypt and the slaughter of the Holy Innocents, the Nativity story itself incorporates the brokenness of the world that Christ came to save. The crèche, then, as an artistic depiction of the Nativity, can emphasize the joy of Christmas, but it also invites moments of recognizing the pains, burdens, or fears which accompany human life.