Sister Wendy's Nativity

Once again, Sister Wendy has produced a delightful book on art and religion. This one mostly deals with the birth of Jesus, but it touches upon the later events in his life as well. The paintings are tiny, from mostly anonymous artists from the late medieval period. When blown up to book size, these tiny paintings can look rather crude. But Sister Wendy zooms in on them with her spiritual microscope, and with her trademark contemplative style, draws forth from these miniatures profound spiritual revelations--meanings the artists probably never intended. At least not consciously. She then extends the "message" of the paintings into meditations on what their significance is to contemporary religious thought and life's contemporary moral dilemmas. You marvel at her perceptiveness.As another reviewer pointed out, there are some editing problems in the book. In a few instances, the paintings and their associated commentaries don't quite match up. But this flaw won't detract from your enjoyment of the book.I'm one atheist who is always happy to plunk down money for a new Sister Wendy book. And this one is certainly no exception. You'll want to re-read it during every Xmas season.