“Bang.” I heard his little voice say from the other room. “Step away from the manger.” My daughter asked a question and I was briefly distracted.
“ Move to the top of the hill and secure the area.” His five-year-old voice demanded again.
Turning to my husband I asked, “What is he doing in there?”
“He’s playing with his Army set.”
“Ahhh,” I said nodding my head with understanding.
My son continued to play well into the evening, entertaining himself with his little green Army men, and whatever he could find in the dining room, until he was ushered off to bed. It wasn’t until I was ready to go to be myself, and turning out the dinning room lights that I saw it.
“Honey,” I called out to my husband. “Can you come here for a minute?” As he entered the room a small smile crept upon his face as I held back a giggle.
“Have you ever seen anything like this?”
“No,” he chuckled, lowering his face to see more closely at our son’s strategic battlefield of Army men.
Before us sat the family Italian Nativity set that we placed in the house every year at Christmas. The kids had come to love the story of Baby Jesus, and couldn’t wait every day to move the nativity pieces closer to the manger. It was tradition to hide Jesus until he was born and on his birthday place him before Mary and Joseph. We talked about it every day.
But today ARMY MEN surrounded the nativity! They were atop the manger, lying before the shepherds and Kings, and hiding behind nearby candles.
The following morning I asked my son why he decided to place his Army men around the nativity… boy was I surprised.
“Mom, everyone knows that Baby Jesus is going to need protection. If he’d had an Army along time ago things would be different today.”
I stared at him for a minute and gave him a smile. Five years old and so smart…
“Well,” I said. “He had a different kind of Army… and they’re still around.”
His eyes grew wide. “Really?”
“Uh huh. They’re all the people who believe in Him.”
“Oh,” he said confused.
“Someday when you’re older you will understand,” I said, as I hugged his shoulder and we headed out to kindergarten.
But as I drove to school that day, I couldn’t help but think about all the countries that have gone to war over religion. I wondered what would have happened if Jesus had had Army men…
Author’s note: Each year when we put the nativity set out, I think of this particular Christmas and wonder, will the world ever stop fighting over religion?
PERFECT story! I adore this!