Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Following yonder star

I bought last year's Christmas cards from UNICEF -- a worthy charity gets some cash; my friends and family get some attractive artwork and cozy holiday wishes to decorate their mantelpiece/refrigerator/trash can; everybody wins. I probably won't be sending cards this Christmas (maybe we should add "P.S. Happy Holidays!" to our wedding invitations?), but when the UNICEF Cards & Gifts catalog arrived this week, I flipped through it anyway. My favorite Xmas card design was "City of Bethlehem" -- until I read the description more carefully. What's wrong with this picture? "Embossed with bronze accents, the City of Bethlehem glows in the evening sun, while a shimmering star guides Joseph and Mary." That star is pretty and all, but I'm pretty sure that's not how the story goes.

Seriously though: UNICEF does good work; their Christmas cards are nice; you should consider buying some... but if you go the religious route, maybe look for a design with a slightly better grasp on the nativity story details.

What global not-for-profit will I find petty fault with tomorrow? Come back and see!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did they also have cards that depicted the three Wise Men being told that there was no room at the inn?

~Buckshot

Mollie said...

Ha ha, not that I noticed! But I did have this IM conversation with the fiance yesterday afternoon:

Me: Did you think that Xmas card was as weird as I did?
Him: i always wondered how they found bethlehem
Me: Of course, there's nothing to say that this depicts their arrival/first night in Bethlehem. They could just be out for a stroll, post-birth. Like while they were waiting for the Magi to show up.
Me: Maybe it's a card you're meant to send just after Christmas.
Him: right that's true
Him: if you were mary & joseph, i'd bet you'd want to go see the star everyone's been telling you about
Me: "I'll be damned, there it is! (Well, I won't actually be damned, but you know what I mean.)"