Oh come, let us adore him

FansoSac built this nativity scene.

What child is this?

Several years ago, Eric Harshbarger made this great nativity scene mosaic.

Advent

If I may be cynical for a bit, Christmas in America is an orgy of consumerism. We begin on Black Friday (the holiest day on the consumerist calendar) and continue shopping till we drop, culminating in a pile of crumpled up wrapping paper on the morning of December 25. After that, we have to quick get those decorations down and put away before the new year rolls around. By contrast, Christmas in the church actually begins on December 25 and leads on for twelve days commemorating the birth of Christ, followed by Epiphany in which Christ is revealed to the world. The days leading up to Christmas are actually a time of prayer, fasting, and self denial (the opposite of consumerism) as we repent and prepare for the coming of Christ (both remembering that first Christmas day but also looking ahead to his return). I know we stand with a foot in each of these worlds, especially as a dad I'm trying to figure out gifts for my kids, but please, try to pause for a moment and remember joy. Yesterday, the third Sunday of Advent, the Joy candle (the pink one - I know, for years I assumed the one that was a different color must be the one right before Christmas) was lit in advent wreaths around the world, and in this LEGO wreath by CJ. Joy to the world, our Lord is coming.

Hanukkah

Here's a much smaller menorah that a first grader named Maxwell built as a gift for his parents last year. I hope all of my Jewish readers have had a wonderful holiday this year.

Hanukkah

Here's a giant LEGO menorah build that the Vancouver LEGO club held last year.

I have a little dreidel, I made it out of LEGO

Jim DeVona gives instructions to build your own dreidel - a top used in a game traditionally played at Hanukkah. In addition to being fun, the game helps remind children that "A great miracle happened there".

Happy Hanukkah

This evening the first candle will light on menorahs around the world, celebrating the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. This 14 foot menorah was erected this year outside a synagogue in northern Washington DC. That's not actual LEGO, instead it's EverBlock, a LEGO-like building material. The Rabbi wanted to build something like LEGO, just much larger, and partnered up with the president of EverBlock.