What do you know about stables? They are not pretty places. The light is not that good. Walk into a stable and take a deep breath... if you dare. Whew! But now it is Christmas and suddenly stables take on a different image. Instead of the dark, grimy, smelly places that they really are, we let our minds picture them as much more socially acceptable. In houses everywhere there are I-don't-knowhow-many manger scenes — some wood, some plastic, some ceramic, some papier-mâché. They are on the coffee tables, on the mantle, or under the tree to help us remember the occasion we commemorate, the coming of God in human flesh, the birth of the baby Jesus. It is a rather romantic picture,the way we do it, and the reason it is romantic is the same as so many things we make romantic— they are not real.…