Having just read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson with my church Book Club, I became somewhat nervous leading up to St. Dunstan’s Christmas Eve Pageant held during the 4:00 Family service. For those of you that haven’t read this heart-warming book, The Herdman kids, labeled “the worst kids in the history of the world”, somehow take over the Christmas pageant at the local church. After threatening all the other children, they end up in the main roles as Mary, Joseph, the Three Wisemen and Gabriel. Since the Herdman’s have never even heard the Christmas story before, everyone is expecting pandemonium to ensue. For instance, they all want to string up King Herod for wanting to kill a defenseless baby! Mary, as played by Imogene Herdman, is extremely protective of the baby Jesus, telling everyone, “Don’t touch the baby!” The Wisemen don’t think a baby would like useless things like smelly incense, so they steal a ham and present it as their gift to the baby Jesus. Gladys Herdman, as The Archangel Gabriel, jumps out from behind the stable yelling, “HEY! Unto you a child is born!” Perhaps not the ethereal scene most of us imagine, but the Herdman’s finally end up getting “the big picture” when Imogene is seen softly weeping during the pageant as she lovingly cradles the Christ Child in her arms.
As the Children’s Ministry Coordinator, it is my job to organize St. Dunstan’s Christmas Eve Pageant. I sometimes wonder, as I’m signing up volunteers, organizing costumes and assigning roles for our pageant, if I am taking the time to see “the big picture”. It’s very easy to get caught up in the many details involved in putting on a production with lots of moving parts. I tend to agonize over little things that, in the end, don’t really seem to matter that much. For example, I wanted each child to have a name tag with their assigned part printed on it to avoid confusion. Having some trouble making these labels on the computer and feeling the time crunch, I asked my husband Burgess to help. (Normally, I’m one of those that prefers to do things myself, so it’s sometimes hard for me to delegate.) Having my husband take over this detail, however, actually helped calm me down. These labels could have easily been written by hand without much fuss, but I made things harder for myself by wanting them done a certain way. Now I see that by stressing over these unimportant details, I am taking some of the joy out of a beautiful story.
Concerned with making sure all the children are costumed, rehearsed, and cued to appear at just the right moment can easily override the “reason for the season”. Every year there are funny little things that happen, but those watching don’t always see the small issues I do! Our stable, which is basically two weighted cardboard poles with a foamboard roof, is on its last legs and one side was looking more than a little wobbly. Worried the whole time that the roof would fall in the middle of the pageant kept me on pins and needles! Then one of our little sheep had a small meltdown and had to be taken to the nursery. Without his assigned sheep, the “shepherd” was not sure what to do. So, using his shepherd’s crook like a blind man’s stick tapping out in front of him, our inventive shepherd slowly made his way down the aisle. As he took his place, I noticed the other shepherds holding their crooks like fishing poles – perhaps trying to be fishers of men? I couldn’t wait to get those shepherd’s crooks out of their hot little hands and did so at the first opportunity! But now I ask myself, does all that really matter in the end? Isn’t it more important for everyone involved in, or watching the Christmas Pageant to keep the message of the birth of Jesus foremost in our minds?
Jesus was God incarnate coming to Earth in the body of a small, defenseless child. Maybe Mary was overly protective of this child who would one day grow up to do amazing things. Perhaps the angel Gabriel did need to shout to get everyone’s attention about this miraculous event! Jesus loves us even more because he is intimately knowledgeable about the human condition. He knows our flaws, temptations and imperfections but loves us anyway. He only wants us to love him and to love each other as we struggle in our daily lives to see “the big picture”.
