A Rare Nativity by Sam Beeson, Nina Cochran, Terral Cochran ISBN: 1629720623
Published by Ensign Peak on September 8th 2015
Pages: 32
Goodreads
We’ve all heard the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and we’ve all seen the traditional Christmas crèche. Now, author Sam Beeson and photographers Nina and Terral Cochran combine these two classic Christmas icons to create A Rare Nativity.
Upon reading the first lines of the book, it’s clear the narrator holds a bitter grudge as he sends his enemy crude and discarded gifts:
On the first night of Christmas I gave my enemy a briar from a tanglewood tree. On the second night of Christmas I gave my enemy two rotten eggs.
Night after night the “gifts” pile up—shards of glass, rusty nails, gnarled twigs, and more. What the narrator’s enemy decides to do with each of these odious gifts is nothing less than a Christmas miracle. The photographic creation of the rare nativity at the end of the book is both a work of art and a wonder to behold.
Forgiveness is something we all need to give and receive, and A Rare Nativity opens our eyes to the act of forgiveness and the true meaning of Christmas. It’s a universal message to be shared with readers of all ages. Christmas is a season for giving. Make it a forgiving season.
A Rare Nativity (32 pages) by Sam Besson
We have all heard the song The Twelve Days of Christmas, and we have all seen the traditional Christmas crèche. Now, author Sam Beeson and photographers Nina and Terral Cochran combine these two classic Christmas icons to create A Rare Nativity.
Upon reading the first lines of the book, it is clear the narrator holds a bitter grudge as he sends his enemy crude and discarded gifts: On the first night of Christmas I gave my enemy a briar from a tanglewood tree. On the second night of Christmas I gave my enemy two rotten eggs.
Night after night the gifts pile up shards of glass, rusty nails, gnarled twigs, and more. What the narrator s enemy decides to do with each of these odious gifts is nothing less than a Christmas miracle. The photographic creation of the rare nativity at the end of the book is both a work of art and a wonder to behold.
About the Author
Sam Beeson gives himself annual writing assignments. In 2005, he wrote a poem a day. In 2007, he wrote about his wife every day. In 2015, each day he wrote a handwritten letter to someone new. Sam teaches high school English and loves reading the journals of his ancestors.
MY THOUGHTS
This is a wonderful twist on the Twelve Days of Christmas, which almost everyone knows the words to and plays upon each line of the song. The story is told from the point of view of a man sending his enemy a gift of broken objects that seem like trash. What happens with these items is just amazing. His enemy transformes them into the lines of the songs. The photographs show such artistry and takes the broken things and turns them in a beautiful nativity scene.
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