A while ago I heard about a garden gnome that was stolen from someone’s front lawn, and how the owner of the gnome received photographs in the mail of the various travels the gnome experienced. That story has been retold and re-enacted in various places with various different objects. So when I read here that it had happened again, I wasn’t all that surprised, even though it was with a plastic baby Jesus statue, rather than a gnome.

This time, the baby Jesus doll was photographed in various parts of New York state and was eventually returned, with an explanatory note and a photo album of his travels.

The owners of the nativity scene were happy to have their doll back, and given the friendly nature of the note, they forgave the “thieves”. They told the reporter that they believed the real Jesus would have forgiven them, so they felt compelled to do the same.

I think the real Jesus would applaud the theft, if only for a symbolic gesture. This doll sits in an attic most of the year, and comes out for display leading up to the holiday. I think the real Jesus wants us to take the baby Jesus out of our nativity scenes, and into our real worlds.

In the note left with the photo album, when the doll was returned, kidnappers wrote: “We are simply a group of young adults who wished to show the baby Jesus a better life than he would have seen cooped up in an attic crawl space. He has traveled over counties and states, met people and animals alike. We have done our best to show the baby Jesus the many glorious aspects of our world.”

I’m fully aware that this was likely a college prank of some kind, even an attempt to grab attention from journalists and blogging hacks like me, but the deeper meaning did not escape me. What kind of life are we giving baby Jesus if we only show him off close to Christmas?