Wednesday, December 5, 2012  Mary, Mary  Downtown in front of
the Waverley Library each December a large nativity scene is set
up. This is Mary, mother of Jesus, with one of the wise men  and
a sheep behind her. Her hands look awfully big for her face,
which looks childlike.While the male figurine is brown-skinned,
Mary is not. Western Christians have re-imaged the mother of
Jesus, making her more European-looking -- and sounding. Jesus's
mother's name was Miriam, but that was changed to Mary in
English. Here is what the nativity scene looks like. Joseph on
the right, the Three Wise Men in the back and the cows and sheep
scattered about. The empty space in the straw bed is for the
baby Jesus, who is put there either on Christmas Eve or
Christmas Day. If Jesus is not there yet, shouldn't Mary's
stomach be heavily pregnant? Or is her body also miraculously
un-womanly looking even while she was pregnant? Strange. This
nativity scene is quite traditional. This, however, is more what
the nativity scene would look