Pocket full of Jesus

I found Jesus over the weekend.  He was in my coat pocket.

Oh, this wasn't the first time I found Jesus.  I've found him many times over the past few weeks.  A few days earlier I found Jesus in my shoe.  Before that, he was under my computer desk.  Prior to that, I found Jesus on the bottom step of the stairs while leaving for work in the morning.  Found him with my foot that time. 

Some might think that my knack for stumbling upon Jesus (both figuratively and literally) in daily life might be nothing more than a classic example of pareidolia, or the phenomenon of finding symbolic messages in random objects (i.e. seeing the Virgin Mary in a grilled cheese sandwich).  Others might think I'm passionate about religion and choose to see religious lessons in everyday life.  While these are both good guesses, the truth is something much simpler:

I have a 4-year-old daughter, and she likes to play with the Nativity set.

Other than the subject matter, there's nothing fancy about the set.  The figurines are plastic and durable, basically the same materials as the toys in her toybox.  She often includes her regular toys in with the Nativity scene, so it's not uncommon to find Dora the Explorer, Polly Pocket or a random Bratz doll tucked in with the wise men behind the manger.  I view her "adjustments" to the nativity scene in the same vein as Hollywood remakes of classic movies: the original story mostly remains in tact with a few prominent marketing tie ins and gratuitous celebrity cameos thrown in for good measure.  In her version, I figure the wise men get lost on the way to the stable and it's up to Dora, Boots and the Map to lead them to the manger.  Upon arrival, the travelers are greeted by the Bratz doll playing the role of Mary Magdalene (Hollywood remakes are rarely true to their source material or historical timelines). 

The only time I intervened in her nativity play was when some Transformers stopped by the manger.  Apparently there was a disagreement of some sort and I heard my daughter emit the following battle cry:

"Jesus attack!"

I quickly corrected her that even under threat of attack by giant robots, Jesus probably wouldn't attack.  Not even in a Michael Bay movie.

I figure letting her play with the Nativity Set teaches her about two important elements of the Christmas holiday.  The first element, obviously, is it's a reminder of the religious meaning of the holiday.  The second element?  While video games and gadgets are wonderful presents to find under the tree on Christmas morning, there is still no greater  present to open Christmas morning than the Action Figure Playset!  For girls, it was probably some incarnation of the Barbie Dreamhouse. For boys, it was probably something Star Wars related (Christmas morning. 1980. Millennium Falcon.  Enough said.)

I realize that letting my daughter use Baby Jesus as a toy might get some people's holiday spirit in a wad, but I don't think it's that big a deal.  Just as long as she plays peacefully and keeps the robot attacks to a minimum, I don't see the harm in letting her include the Joseph, Mary, the wise men and Baby Jesus in her reindeer games this holiday season. 

And besides, I have a hard time telling my daughter she's not allowed to play with Jesus at Christmas.  I'm not much of a religious scholar, but that doesn't sound very Christmas-y.