Between Light and Darkness
USA
Dennis Brown (Enesco)
Setting – J. G. Roten

Solid, burly but gentle, these figures inspire trust and confidence, and one would not mind being led by them to the manger. Dennis Brown adopted a crèche style which has become popular in the United States. It favors a rough-and-tumble simplicity over sophistication, puts childlike faces on people and endows them with the smile of never- ending contentment. It is a deliberately primitive version of "paradise retrieved." The setting of this nativity suggests the theme of light and darkness, the need to find a way out of the maze of human existence. Coming into the light is a challenge because the birth of the "light-Child" did not take away all darkness. In fact, the line of demarcation between light and darkness is crossing the threshold of the stable. Thus, the search for the full light is still on. In this nativity set the seekers are the wise men. They come by boat, entangled in a maze of trees, but soon they will see the light.