One of the things I miss the most from my days as a parish priest at this time of year are the many school nativity plays and services, usually trying to find an innovative way of telling the famous story of the first Christmas.
There were several things I observed year after year:
There is always one child singing very badly and slightly off key
There is always one child completely star-struck by the whole experience who barely sings a note and usually forgot what they were supposed to be doing
There is always one child clearly sulking about the part they have been given
There is always one child who spends the whole play trying (and failing) to spot their family in the audience
So, always something to make me smile, but I still remember also choking up with emotion in all of them. Why? Because, without fail, in every performance, all the children were so excited and enthusiastic. With shining eyes, they believed every word they said and sang.
It always made me wonder, what has happened to our wide-eyed wonder? How did the extraordinary story and message of Christmas become something so everyday to us? Those in the story – the shepherds and the angels for example – are full of the same joy as the school children. So what about us? Maybe this year we can really listen to the story as if for the first time, because this is still wonderful and revolutionary good news – that light will always overcome darkness; that love is stronger than anything; that God walks with us, even through these dark and frightening days. Here is hope, love and peace – truly something to celebrate this Advent and Christmas.
