Brand icons readily identify things such as products, services, and organizations. Some icons are globally recognized; the Apple logo, according to “The Visual Capitalist,” is in the top fifty. Followed by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, in that order.
Tom Goodwin said, “Brands are essentially patterns of familiarity, meaning, fondness, and reassurance that exist in the minds of people.”— Marketing for the Modern Age. We develop emotional responses to experiences, negative or positive. If you have a memory of a dog bite, you develop negative connotations about dogs. If, on the other hand, your childhood puppy companion cuddled and pampered you, your feelings about dogs are dramatically positive. Michael Rader, founder of Brandroot, says “Brand names give businesses the opportunity to put a meaning behind their name with completely positive connotations.”
We don’t typically think about the Creche in terms of branding. It is, in a significant way, the Christian “brand” of Christmas; as contrasted with the Christmas tree. Case in point; some folks want to call the Christmas tree a “Holiday Tree”—you can’t very well call the Creche a “Holiday diorama.” The Creche DNA is embedded into the psyche of people globally. And the psyche, dear reader, includes the id, the ego, and the superego.
St. Francis of Assisi was not simply a mystic Italian monk, he was also immensely forward thinking. It was he who came up with the Creche; in itself, it is a marvelous montage of the Incarnation. That is especially true in a “living Nativity Scene;” each living being draws you into the miracle of Christ’s birth. Many adults who participate, or have participated in a live Creche, testify to significant ambient communion with God in the process; not to mention the insight, and often, humor that happens when one of the child participants muff’s (or ad libs) a line.
I still have our family’s Creche—from over five decades. We bought it in Levy’s department store in Savannah, GA when our children were toddlers. It survived a half dozen or more moves. It is not perfect, even from the beginning; there were five “Wise Men;” Over the years a camel’ leg was broken, we lost a sheep, and more recent moves turned up two sheep with broken feet; and all the excelsior is missing, as well as the light for the star. Still, it reminds me of Isaiah 65:17-25, where God promises to repair humanity.
Each year we gently unwrapped each component of the Creche, carefully putting it in place. Once all are in place, we plugged in the little bulb (representing the Star of Bethlehem) announcing Christmas has come! A friend of mine once said, his little boy kept moving the “Baby Jesus” from his manger bed. He said, “So Jesus showed up in unusual places.” It is kinda in character for Jesus, I think.
As for the number of Wise Men? That doesn’t really matter; no one knows how many. Anyway, they arrived—maybe weeks after the birth of Jesus—and we don’t know that date either. There are many “facts” we don’t know. Those facts are not the essentials. Such is the power of the Creche. It consolidates significance. It is a visual experience of the act of God, Immanuel, God with us.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2022
When our children were little, I purchased a small wood crèche — nothing breakable — that they could play with. Years later, Fisher Price offered a larger manger set with more pieces (still unbreakable) that we gave to our youngest granddaughter. At Woodlawn UMC in Birmingham, where we are active now, a member of the worship committee brings an almost-life size Nativity set for the area just inside the altar rail. The three Wise Men are placed at the back of the sanctuary and moved closer each Sunday in Advent. On Christmas Eve, Pastor Emily carries Baby Jesus and places him in the manger.