Christmas Eve we went to a church my daughter enjoys 2 hours from here, near the town she works in. They had a life size manger complete with life-sized doll, real hay in the manger and on the floor.
The pastor's message was about imagination. He said imagination is the bridge between the seen and the unseen. Faith is, too. Exploring the connection between faith and imagination - another post.
Well, my imagination took off. I know there are churches with live manger scenes at Christmastime and life sized figurines, but I wonder...
What would you find in the stable when Jesus was born? Hay? Animals? Sand from the desert? What would Mary and Joseph already have with them? What would they need for themselves, their donkey, their new baby? Think about all five senses: smell, sight, sounds, taste, touch.
What if each of the kids in a church brought something from home (on loan) for a manger scene ... I'm thinking in the form of stuffed animals or a pail of water or a basket of corn or grain . . . Rubber spiders? Thread for spider webs? Kids on farms will have different ideas about what they'd find in a barn than city or suburban kids.
A different slant, what do we think we need for a new baby today and what did they need 2000 years ago? What if you had no money?
You have a whole year to let your imagination play with this. What will kids come up with if left to their own imagination ...
If they come up with really odd ideas instead of telling them they're wrong, ask why they chose to include that item ...story, dialogue, conversation ...
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