There is a sweet children’s song titled “Picture a Christmas.” Years ago, I created a Christmas experience for children the Sunday before Christmas. They would sing carols they had practiced for weeks, each child was given a small part to share, and there were a few simple activities along the way. Before we sang “Picture a Christmas,” I asked the children how they imagined the birth of Jesus. Then I showed them a Nativity painting by Greg Olsen and told them a story about it. What follows is the story in fuller detail.

Years ago, the artist Greg Olsen noticed a man walking a dog in the parking lot of a neighborhood grocery store, Day’s Market. Something about the man caught his attention. Olsen was planning to paint a Nativity scene, and he often used live models to pose for the figures he painted. When he saw my father, he paused. This was the kind of man he pictured when he imagined one of the wise men.

He went inside the store and asked if anyone knew who the man might be. Fortunately for him, people there knew my dad well and were happy to point him toward the nearby street where he lived. Our family had long ties to the store. We had shopped there since it opened. My mom worked there for many years running the post office, and at various times my sister, sister-in-law, and nephew also worked there. It was not just a place to buy groceries, but a place where we regularly ran into friends. The Day family also employed individuals with special needs, which added a kind of warmth and humanity to the experience of shopping there. 

Greg Olsen made his way down the street, knocking on doors until he found my father.

To understand why my dad stood out, it helps to describe him. He worked for many years at BYU’s Motion Picture Studio, work he loved deeply. While there, he formed a lasting friendship with a talented filmmaker, T. C. Christensen, a relationship that continued until the end of my father’s life. After he retired, my dad grew a long beard and occasionally appeared in small roles or as an extra in T.C. Christensen’s films. My mom was not especially fond of the beard, but that did not discourage him. He enjoyed it far too much.

One of his favorite moments was walking into a church meeting where a child excitedly whispered to his parents, “There’s Santa Claus.” My dad was tall and very thin, far from the familiar round figure, but his long white beard stood out. For a child, that single detail was enough. Depending on how he was dressed, my dad could look like an ancient prophet, or if he was in his gardening clothes, like someone who had been living rough for a long time.

After a track meet one day, my daughter noticed a social media post from a classmate. My dad had been there, as he often was. One of the kids asked to take a picture with him, and when it was posted later, the caption read, “Look, I found Moses.” Another time, he walked across a large soccer complex to find my daughter so he could give her a ride home. As he approached, the girl standing next to her looked at him with wide eyes and said in a low, almost reverential voice, “Whoa.”

All of this is to say that my dad was an excellent candidate for a wise man. And not just in appearance. He truly was a wise man. He was gentle, kind, thoughtful, deeply spiritual, highly religious, and hardworking. We often called him a renaissance man because his interests and talents spanned many fields, and his life included work in a wide range of areas.

As Greg Olsen went door to door, he asked a neighbor about my father. Was he religious? He was likely trying to get a sense of what kind of man he was and whether he would be willing to take part in something sacred. The neighbor, who knew him well, did not hesitate in pointing him to my parents’ home. My dad was thrilled to pose, along with other models, for a painting that depicted such a sacred scene. In the finished work, he appears as the wise man dressed in purple.

This is how Greg Olsen pictured Christmas.

As we move through this Christmas season, I invite you to pause and reflect on the birth and life of Jesus. How do you picture the birth of our Savior? How can you honor his life, his example, and sacrifice? How might you come closer and follow him more fully this year?