Remembering Jesus
December 16th, 2011
Baby Jesus in the manger that was in the "tunnel stable" when I was a child
My earliest memories include the pictures of Jesus my dad painted-by-number and hung in my bedroom and the baby Jesus from the nativity set my parents set up every Christmas on top of our black and white Magnavox TV. The advent “wreath” and stable for the holy family was made by my father by taking an old wood tunnel from his Lionel electric trains. He had inserted a back wall with two nightlight bulbs to light the manger, covered the whole thing with aluminum foil, hammered five large nails into the top of the tunnel to hold three purple, one pink and one white pillar candle, around which my mother draped plastic garland for the “wreath.” Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and a few of the smaller animals from the nativity set would fit inside the tunnel cave; the shepherds and wisemen would be set outside the cave on top of the TV that was usually covered with “angel hair.” It was unquestionably the most beautiful sight of Advent to this preschooler.
During most advent evenings we’d gather around the nativity scene, switch on the lamps inside the stable, light the appropriate number of candles, sing a carol or two, and remember. The candles would stay lit until well after I’d be put to bed. In the morning, I’d tiptoe out of my bedroom to the living room. The smell of the snuffed candles was still lingering in the air. I would peer into the stable to see if Baby Jesus was still there, and I’d lift him from the manger and cradle him in my hand. I’d walk him around the living room like a mother comforts a colicky infant, and I’d tell him about his life … how he’d grow up to save the world.
As I left home and had a daughter of my own, my parents gifted me with that old baby Jesus in the manger. I still bring him out every year, and cradle the infant in my hands and remember. The rituals and traditions our parents first share with us shape our faith for years to come, if not our whole life. What kinds of advent traditions did you grow up with? What do you do with your children and grandchildren? What traditions do you share in your congregation? How do you tell your children the stories of Jesus?
Wendy, this is from an advent sermon a few years ago I did.
Funny how we remember things 
Your Brother Michael
I remember as a child every year my farter and mother used to put up an advent wreath, and for the longest time I thought that advent wreath and the nativity scene were all one, you needed one to have the other. That was because my Dad used an old wood Lionel Train tunnel box that he made for his old Lionel trains. He had converted it to be a manger for our Nativity Set, by covering it with Aluminum Foil and wiring in 2 old white Christmas tree bulbs, not the little one we have today but the old C-6 bulbs, to light up the inside. Because all of the pieces had to fit inside, as we used to place it on top of our Magnavox, B&W Console TV, that had tubes in it and only 13 channel knob, and their wasn’t much room on top. Then there were the 5 10D nails sticking up through the top of this box, 4 in like a circle and one in the center. Now mom and my Older — Sister used to decorate the top with cut off pieces of Christmas Tree branch trimmings and garland. I was too little. Latter I got to put in the light bulbs, because that was “a mans” job. J Then like taking fine silverware from a velvet box, Mom would remove these advent candles from “the special Christmas cardboard shoebox”, They were 3” 4” round and to me at age 4 or so, they had to be at least 2 feet tall, (motion about 6”) if they were an inch, and the center white candle was even longer. we would all stare and ooo as my Dad would place them on there 10 D candle holders. I remember fighting with my sister mostly, on who got to light the candles every night. We would all put the ceramic, lead painted, figures into the manger, except Baby Jesus, he hung out on the back of the TV Top behind the manger / advent wreath till Christmas. Ever frightened that once again he would spend most of the time missing, unnoticed, then rescued from the Kirby bag on Christmas morning. J Mom would burn those candles till we were watching the candle flames through the dried pine needles and branches.