Faith-Based Accents for the Home

Reprinted from the June 2001 issue of Envoy Magazine with permission.

Know what a finial is? Sounds like a piece of beautiful pre-Vatican II altar paraphernalia, or a papal vestment, doesn't it? Actually, you probably see finials every day. They're the ornamental doohickeys that screw lampshades onto lamps.

I know this, because my wife knows this. She bought us a new finial recently. It features a molded image of the Holy Family at the Nativity and, in case you're wondering, I like it, too.

Why would anyone want to own such a thing? Well, as it happens, we have an entire collection of Nativity renderings - some admittedly unusual - that we put out every Christmas. With the addition of the finial, we've decided to call it quits for a while . . . a long while . . . before we veer into a level of eccentricity that might one day shame our son in the eyes of his neighborhood friends.

I don't remember exactly when it was but, somewhere along the way, my wife and I developed a taste for what might be called "faith-based accents for the home." Nice ones, mind you, not glow-in-the-dark statues, 3-D Bible scenes, and eyes-that-follow-you holy pictures (with all due apologies to manufacturers and devotees of glow-in-the-dark statues, 3-D Bible scenes, and eyes-that-follow-you holy pictures).

It's not just the Nativity scenes. We're reining in sacred image acquisitions across the board. Why? 1) It's a habit that can get easily out of hand. 2) We're not rich. 3) If we put all our everyday and seasonal stuff out at one time, you'd think we were running a Mom & Pop religious goods store out of our home.

How much stuff could I possibly be talking about? Let's start outside. In front of the house, we have a plastic-that-looks-like-granite St. Joseph. Out back, we have a plaster-that-looks-like-plaster St. Michael. Then, there's inside . . .

Sidelight window: Stained-glass Jesus.

Front hall: Our Lady, John Paul II, Holy Spirit, St. Michael.

Living room: Our Lady, St. Michael, the Annunciation.

Family room: house blessing, crucifix, St. Joseph.

Our son's room: crucifix, St. Michael, St. Joseph, guardian angel prayer, holy water font.

Our room: crucifix, Sacred heart, Immaculate Conception, Madonna & Child, St. Joseph prayer.

Kitchen: Holy Family refrigerator magnet, St. Michael refrigerator magnet, guardian angel refrigerator magnet, Divine Mercy refrigerator magnet, standard-issue parish calendar sponsored by a local funeral parlor.

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