In Deep Winter
Canada
John Schnegg

This second set by John Schnegg, see #6, grew out of his Canadian experience. It reflects the traditional Christmas imagery of northern countries. Icicles are hanging from the rooftops, and the landscape is buried in deep snow. We see a typical Canadian stable and barn, garage, shelter for the sheep and water pump. The Holy Family is tucked away with the animals, as if they were hiding. The meaning here is that we need to be looking and searching for Jesus our Savior. Eyes need to be open to see our salvation. But where we humans need to be seekers, animals intuitively sense the presence of wonder. This boxed-in nativity, whose wintry landscape is not painted on canvas but on a sheet of metal, is a typical house or domestic crèche. Triangular in shape or rounded in the back like our set, it is placed in one of the corners of the living room, in "God's own corner," and becomes an object of meditation during the Christmas season.