A Joyful Christmas Pageant

a story by Ray Williams

It was a great joy to see my daughter, Clyde, dressed up as a donkey last year for the annual Christmas pageant here at UUMC.  Apparently, they were running short on doves last year and tried to switch her costume, but Clyde knew that I had my heart set on the donkey.  We had been singing “The Friendly Beasts” all week:  “I am the donkey all shaggy and brown.  I carried his Mother, uphill and down….”   I don’t know who made the costumes that UUMC has on hand for the annual pageant, but they are especially adorable.  I look forward to seeing them activated by our young ones again this year.

This tradition of reenacting the Nativity links us to past (and future) generations.  It has a sweetness and gravity that takes us out of the secular celebrations that can be so distracting, even stressful.   

I remember being a Shepherd when I was four years old.  Our family went to the Cullowhee United Methodist Church on the campus of Western Carolina University, where my father was a young history professor.  We had enjoyed a couple of rehearsals, learned some songs, and found just the right bathrobe for my costume.  The church provided a shepherd’s crook, so I was ready.  The week before the pageant, I learned how to both whistle AND snap my fingers.  When the organ revved up for us all to sing “Joy to the World,” I did not hold back.  I happily whistled and snapped along—and my father got so tickled he created a small scene from the third pew.

Scripture: Zechariah 9:9

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion. Sing aloud, Daughter Jerusalem. Look, your king will come to you. He is righteous and victorious. He is humble and riding on an donkey, on a colt, the offspring of a donkey.

Prayer

Dear God, may we all be ready to laugh or whistle or sing with joyful hearts during this season of expectation and new hope. Amen.