Hipster Holy Family

 Within a lodge of broken bark
 the tender babe was found,
 a ragged robe of rabbit skin
 enwrapped his beauty round;
 but as the hunter braves drew nigh,
 the angel song rang loud and high: 

Jesus your King is born,
  Jesus is born,
  in excelsis Gloria.

The Huron Carol

If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with Him in all His glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

 

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
And yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

 

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Tryin' to make his way home?

 

One of Us lyrics -- Joan Osborne

When our son and daughter-in-law were McGill students they lived at several locations in Montreal, including the Cote des Neiges neighbourhood. They weren't far from St. Joseph's Oratory which is known for iarchitectural beauty, ts miracles, and its collection of more than a thousand crèches or nativity scenes. We enjoyed walking through this museum, but that was long before the latest version which has created quite a stir.

This one depicts a Hipster Holy Family with Joseph taking a selfie while Mary flashes a peace sign and holds a big take-out coffee. The Magi show up on Segways and it appears that that the gifts are deliveries from Amazon. Some are calling this display irreverent and in some respects how can we argue. This Millennial Nativity sells for sixty bucks and was created by a pair of brothers in California and the curator of the current exhibit at St. Joseph's maintains that it is just another depiction of the birth of Jesus in a contemporary way.




Arctic Holy Night Nathalie Parenteau

I'm with her. My undergrad degree was in Art History and there are hundreds if not thousands of nativities which are tied to the historical moment or iconography in which they were painted or crafted. For many years our early Christmas Eve services included an "ad hoc" nativity, with children conscripted at the door to portray the various "players" of the Christmas tableau. If we can accept them, why not this one?

What do you think? A little too irreverent, or fun?