A picture of a ceramic angel that is part of a Christmas nativity scene. The angel is holding up a tiny paper banner which says, "welcome the stranger."
A picture of the entire nativity scene,complete with a wooden stable, the angel, shepherds, 3 kings, sheep, 2 camels, a donkey, cow, and a little dog. The figures are slip cast ceramic bisque that my grandmother painted in 1957. She was a Norwegian-American Lutheran lady from South Dakota, and all of the people in the scene are depicted as white, including Mary and Baby Jesus, who have painted blond hair and blue eyes.
My grandmother made a golden star that hangs over the nativity scene, with "rays" of golden cord that reach from the star to the wooden stable.
I left organized religion a looong time ago, but my daughter brought her great-grandma's nativity scene out of storage, so I set it up. I updated the angel's banner for 2025.
#Christmas #nativity #welcomethestranger