The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Last Saturday we went to a neighbors’ house for what I hope will become a Holiday tradition. Mostly it is just a gathering of their friends – many of whom we don’t know very well. We eat way too much food – there is something about a table full of all sorts of things. I never seem to keep track of how much I eat or how many trips I make back.

But what makes this evening special would to most people seem naïve or simple.

Our hosts have somehow accumulated a variety of costumes over the years. Near the end of the evening everyone trundles out to their barn where all the young children wait – in various sorts of attire. Some look shepherd-like, other look like animals.

These kids put on a very simple pageant. David, our host, reads from the Christmas story out of Luke and a few other passages. His wife, Joey, provides basic direction for the kids.

Somehow, without any practice, the kids manage to portray wise men (this year they were three girls – two of them mine!), Mary and Joseph, the angel Gabriel and the aforementioned shepherds and with David’s voice as a guide, they act out portions of the familiar Christmas story.

This production won’t win any Tony awards and will probably never be seen on cable but it beats anything. I can’t put it into words but in the midst of all our hurrying around, spending too much money on stuff, eating too much and in general getting stressed out – this little show, gets us to stop for a few minutes to remember what Christmas – what LIFE – is really all about.

God granted us the gift of his Son and through that the gift of life.

Sitting on a bale of straw, watching a bunch of kids play out roles we’ve seen dozens of times, is probably the most fun anyone can have. Nobody has to sing on key. Nobody (except for Gabriel) has to remember any lines. It just happens and then we go back to the house for some excellent chocolate cheesecake.

It doesn’t get much better.