Walking to Bethlehem

I have my manger scene set out, with the Wise Men and the animals and the baby. It's a far smaller set than that my parents had. Mom had a huge manger scene which would be displayed on a shelf Dad built specifically for it. Her "host of heavenly angels" probably numbered at least 50 by the time she stopped collecting and they moved to a smaller house.

This old stained photo shows the early days, 1971, to be exact, when the scene was just beginning to grow. As you can see, there are a good lot of angels already. The baby has arrived, so this was after Cgeistmas, but I don't see the Wise Men yet.

Mary and Joseph would journey all around our living room and entry hall during the month of December, and would not reach the creche until the evening of December 24. The baby would not appear in the manger until midnight. The manger was lined with straws, usually plucked from the broom--we children were tasked with doing good deeds all month, and for each good deed we could add one straw to the manger. Some years the baby had a hard bed indeed.

The Wise Men journeyed too, but their trek was longer. They did not arrive until January 6th, Old Christmas.

This was just one of the many traditions Mom maintained for many years. Slowly over the years she stopped doing many of them, but during my childhood Christmas was made an exciting, special season not just because of presents but because of Mom and Dad's efforts to keep up the old traditions they remembered from their childhoods, Dad's in Louisiana and Mom's in Caldecote, England. I still do many of these things, although not the Bethlehem journey--but greenery, lights, mistletoe, mincemeat, fruitcake, and so many more continue to make this season merry, bright, and magical.

To close, here is one of my favorite carols, Angels We Have Heard on High.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Guardian Angel

image by Lindberg Heilige Schutzengel,
German artist, c 1900

Did you have a guardian angel when you were growing up?

My husband and I were talking this morning about a movie we watched last night (Fern Hill, a coming of age movie with a great story line). In the movie, the boys were camped out and, as people often do when camping out, talked late into the night. Their topics ran to discussion of God, and that reminded me of nights on our hill with our grandchildren, watching the stars. They often began talking about spiritual things, God and angels and heaven. Perhaps it is when our minds finally slow down, when the bigness of nature reminds us of how small we are, that we move easily into consideration of the infinite and unfathomable.

As a child, I found comfort in the idea of a guardian angel watching over me all the time--except, of course when I was doing something I knew was wrong. Then I would be looking over my shoulder and hoping the angel didn't see. I remember talking with my sisters about our angels, about what they might look like, and where they were exactly (over us? beside us? in front of us?).

I wondered how much the angel could actually see--i.e. how much I could get away with without my actions being reported to God, and if the angel ever slept. At one time I worried that our bed was so crowded that there was no room for the angel. There were often three to five of us little girls in the same big double bed--three sleeping across the top, and two in the opposite direction at the foot. It was great for playing pedal-foot, but pretty cramped otherwise. How could our angels have possibly squeezed in there, or even be able to tell who was who? Uneasy thought for a youngster!

I asked my husband if he had a guardian angel as a child, and he said no, he did not remember that being part of his upbringing. So I am wondering, are guardian angels just a Catholic thing, or do other religions also teach of the watching, guiding angel? According to Wikipedia, there seems to be widespread acceptance of this guiding spirits in other faiths.

I think I gave my angel a run for her money when I was a child. She must have been weary by the end of every day. I wonder, what would I have been like without feeling those angel eyes on my movements?

Today I feel the presence of my mother, my son and my father with me every day. Perhaps guardian angels are those who have passed on, who watch over us and intervene in our behalf. I don't pretend to know the answers, but there is still comfort in the thought.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.