the manger

away in the manger.I'm starting to get excited about Christmas now and I'm in a hurry to get my manger up.the statues are white in color with gold trim and they sit in an old wooden stable which is lit up with tiny white lights.sometimes in the evening i shut all the lights off in the parlor and just sit on the sofa and look at it,it all just seems so peaceful and right.
when i was a little girl after we took the Christmas tree out and decorated it, i would pull out my mothers manger and set it up on the table then gently take the Shepard's out and try putting them in all different places imagineing what these men were doing when they saw the star, making sure their sheep followed near by so they wouldn't get lost on their journey to the stable.i would imagine them looking into the manger seeing the baby laying there,with his parents sitting near by and all the animals around keeping him warm with their breath.how natural and earthy it must have been with the star shining in the sky so brightly keeping the darkness of the night at bay.
on Christmas eve ,when my family would go to mid night mass,it always seemed so lovely going up for communion and looking over at the beautiful manger scene with its dark blue cloth and small white lights set up to look like tiny stars in the dark sky.it made me feel so close to Jesus birth just looking at that quite little scene and hearing the choir has it sang "silent night".what a great way to start the holiday season to feel such peace with the world around you, how loving and warm.like the Mother Mary craddling her new child in her protective arms, may we always feel such peace on earth even if its only in our hearts.