“According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 40 percent of all consumer products imported into the United States last year were manufactured in China.”  ~  CNN.com “Shoppers offered few safeguards…” 7/26/07

A few nights ago Ivy was playing with our nativity set. She put the pieces in a circle and pretended they were dancing—she was singing the hokey pokey. Of course one of the pieces dropped to the floor, which caused me to scold her—she has a little people set and is not to play with the other set… but as I picked it up I noticed the sticker. Underneath every piece of our nativity set is a little red sticker, “MADE IN CHINA”.    [I know, Ivy is cute, but she still needs to follow the rules – even if I become the heel!]

Multiple thoughts shoot through my mind. First I wondered if everything is now from China (and not just china—which by the way, none of our china comes from China, instead Indonesia. I wonder if this ticks off the Chinese!)?

But my thoughts quickly turned the set. The reality of this season is kind of crazy. We celebrate the birth of our savior, who was born into poverty and lived a life of homelessness, by purchasing “replicas” that are too nice for our three year old (even our set from China). And this is only the beginning of our purchases. There are trees and ornaments and greenery and plates and candles and … I have not even gotten to the hoard of presents…

I wonder, where is this season made? It is from heaven or is it just another creation of the world’s trade? …