I dusted off this crib, and now it’s a star attraction
THE other day, we had an office discussion about the fact that many children no longer know that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ (Mail). Fifteen or more years ago, my husband obtained a crib made by local students for a competition and we used it every year as the centrepiece of our office Christmas display. The reaction we got from young and old was amazing. In 2012, we sold our business and the crib stood lonely in our garage until last Thursday evening, when I texted my boss at my new office in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, and tentatively put to him that I had a Christmas crib I would love to put in our window. My boss isn’t a church-goer and I didn’t want to push the matter, but I was pleasantly surprised when he texted back to say: ‘You’re in charge of the Christmas display — go for it.’ I didn’t need to be asked twice, and now the crib holds pride of place in our window. It must be the only crib in a Christmas display for miles around: it may even be the only one on display in the whole area of Northumberland, if not Tyne & Wear. It’s lovely to see how many little children pull their mums and dads towards the window and don’t just point at the snowmen, Santas and other items on display but actually bend down to point to Baby Jesus. Lots of older people have come into the office to say thank you, and it’s a joy to see how many others appreciate it. My boss is very modest — he says: ‘It’s nothing to do with me, Eilish did it all,’ but I’ve told him it’s thanks to him for letting me put it there as some people who aren’t religious would probably have said I couldn’t display it. He said when he looks at the crib, he thinks of Christmas rather than certain particular people’s religion — which was great to hear. Who knows, perhaps we may even discover the students and the school the crib was originally made for?
EILISH WATERS, Haltwhistle, Northumberland.
‘NOTHING beats the magic of your child’s Nativity play,’ says Quentin Letts (Mail). The only thing that does beat it is the staggering personal discovery that the babe in the manger isn’t just a touching fable, but Almighty God Himself in human flesh — and all that leads on from it. The Bible Society has found this year that a quarter of children in Britain have never heard of the Nativity. For a nation so influenced by Biblical teaching, that’s a scandal. Let’s keep the Nativity play on the school calendar and thereby keep the Christian road open to our children and grandchildren.
LES BARNES, Stockport, Gtr Manchester.