The Crib

Have you ever heard of a crib set? Before today I always thought of a bed for a child age 0-3 with long soft pillows lining the inside walls. Either that or lingo for apartment/house, flat, etc. I was introduced to a new crib set today: the manger scene Coeur d’Alene Indian style.

Every week there is a religion class and this week we were bussed up to the local church (a bus ride that was two minutes due to the fact that the church was 1/8 of a mile away) to check out the crib set. As you can see the characters are all in traditional costumes, surrounded by teepees, animals, and trees. The candles in front of the set were put there by the students. Father explained this ritual by comparing it with candles on a birthday cake. Every candle on the cake signifies how many years your family has loved you, so the candles the students light are to say, “I love you, Jesus, and thank you for making me.” The last surprise was when Father introduced the three wise and compared them with medicine men: three very spiritual men. Three older girls brought these figures from the back of the church while Father spoke of the three wise men, as they arrived later than the rest of the main characters from the Christmas story.

This is such a beautifully created set, I wish you could have seen it as closely as I did.