We hit everyone with the Nativity Pageant at 9am, 4th Sunday of Advent, and Christmas Eve to boot. Above, the cue cards I ended up making for Mary, the one cast member who couldn't seem to memorize her lines. Below, the cast waits patiently for their turn to preach the gospel to the congregation! This year, I decided that if I was going to be directing the pageant for the second year in a row, I was also going to write the script. Over Thanksgiving, I banged out what I thought should be in the pageant: a prophecy from Isaiah, references to Jesus' family's poverty and obscurity within the Empire, a visit from Elizabeth, portions of the Magnificat and absolutely no Magi. Those are Epiphany characters, for one thing, and for another, there are never enough children to fill all those roles at our little church. So we stuck with Luke 1 & 2. Here is the text, if you're a big nerd and you're interested. ;-)
How often do you get to have a selfie with an angel?
Adele's first line was, "Hail favored one!" She recited all three of her multi-sentence lines perfectly! Miles' several lines were likewise flawless. The only cast member who ended up needing support, in fact, was Mary, and the cue cards did do the trick perfectly. Every year at Christmas, I have some moment of perfect happiness. Sometimes, it's more than one. Often, this happens at the late night service on Christmas Eve, or it might occur while making cookies or while caroling or while reading A Christmas Carol. This year, the pageant was it; that whole service was bliss. I just gazed at Mary, at her sweet and solemn and uncertain face, at the Christ Child (beloved childhood doll of the narrator, Myracle), at the frolicking sheep and swaying angels, and at the delighted smiles on the congregation's faces, and felt that it doesn't get any better on this earth. You can never hold on to that kind of happiness; all you can do is notice it when it comes and remember it when it's moved on. You can make yourself feel anything, which is a lesson I've been a long time in learning. But you had better notice what you feel, especially if what you feel is this kind of awe and joy.
She didn't want to put the baby down.
I have been to four services, including a very joyful one today, Christmas Day, and the "midnight" (10:00) service at which the choir sang fit to burst the rafters, but nothing has equalled this one. I told the kids before we started, "you guys are preaching today. You are the sermon. Your job is to tell everyone the good news today, so make sure you show them with your faces and your bodies that it's good news!" and they delivered. I put a calypso "Mary's Boy Child" at the end and with a lot of encouragement, I got them to dance around some while they sang. Even the sheep capered around really blithely.
Below is our video. You can see my hand gestures to the kids sometimes, and hear my leading their songs, but you can also hear everyone, and you can see most of them, too. Enjoy! if you're of a mind.
Today, Christmas Day, I am tired. That late service got me home late, and the kids decided at 4:30 that Christmas was starting (the first year they've tried something like this! how exasperating), so we're pretty feeble. The gifts are opened; the piano gave me the most satisfaction, while Adele is captivated by her mini doll-house and Miles can't wait to ride his bike. Jon's got new slippers and fun new clothes and is working on setting up the Firestick (taking the place of our busted Roku). Currently, they're playing Lord of the Rings Lego for Wii while the Pozole simmers. The cat is sleeping off his first catnip high, and Koopa is working on his bone. It's good to have made it to the pyjama and non-stop eating part of the holiday. I don't intend to stir until at least the 27th.
Merry Christmas. I mean that in the least Trumpian way possible. Merry Christmas, right down to your bones, and God bless us all, every one.
Above, the cue cards I ended up making for Mary, the one cast member who couldn't seem to memorize her lines. Below, the cast waits patiently for their turn to preach the gospel to the congregation!
This year, I decided that if I was going to be directing the pageant for the second year in a row, I was also going to write the script. Over Thanksgiving, I banged out what I thought should be in the pageant: a prophecy from Isaiah, references to Jesus' family's poverty and obscurity within the Empire, a visit from Elizabeth, portions of the Magnificat and absolutely no Magi. Those are Epiphany characters, for one thing, and for another, there are never enough children to fill all those roles at our little church. So we stuck with Luke 1 & 2. Here is the text, if you're a big nerd and you're interested. ;-) 
Adele's first line was, "Hail favored one!" She recited all three of her multi-sentence lines perfectly! Miles' several lines were likewise flawless. The only cast member who ended up needing support, in fact, was Mary, and the cue cards did do the trick perfectly. 
Every year at Christmas, I have some moment of perfect happiness. Sometimes, it's more than one. Often, this happens at the late night service on Christmas Eve, or it might occur while making cookies or while caroling or while reading A Christmas Carol. This year, the pageant was it; that whole service was bliss. I just gazed at Mary, at her sweet and solemn and uncertain face, at the Christ Child (beloved childhood doll of the narrator, Myracle), at the frolicking sheep and swaying angels, and at the delighted smiles on the congregation's faces, and felt that it doesn't get any better on this earth. You can never hold on to that kind of happiness; all you can do is notice it when it comes and remember it when it's moved on. You can make yourself feel anything, which is a lesson I've been a long time in learning. But you had better notice what you feel, especially if what you feel is this kind of awe and joy. 
I have been to four services, including a very joyful one today, Christmas Day, and the "midnight" (10:00) service at which the choir sang fit to burst the rafters, but nothing has equalled this one. I told the kids before we started, "you guys are preaching today. You are the sermon. Your job is to tell everyone the good news today, so make sure you show them with your faces and your bodies that it's good news!" and they delivered. I put a calypso "Mary's Boy Child" at the end and with a lot of encouragement, I got them to dance around some while they sang. Even the sheep capered around really blithely. 
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