With everything going on at this time of the year, it’s very easy to forget to celebrate Christmas and what it’s actually about. Having grown up in and been around a musical Christian family, we were always involved in the Christmas events. There were the plays, the children’s choir production, the adult choir production, the Christmas Eve service, the Christmas musical, and so on. Starting early in the year, sometime near the end of summer, we would start hearing the little projects coming to life; “Who’s going to do this?”,” Who do we have for the artwork?”,” No one is available for Thursday rehearsal so we’ll need to practice on Saturday morning.”,” The Smith’s are going to be away the week before Christmas so need to see if the White’s will be able to fill in”. And so it went, with more and more things to remember, the closer we got to Christmas. By the time we reached Christmas Eve, it always seemed as though we looked forward to the day after Christmas; the day everything stopped and we actually got to rest.
Actually, I used to wonder why we really did any of the productions in the first place. There seemed to be so much focus on making sure everything went perfectly, making sure all of the sound and lighting was just so. We couldn’t allow for anything to go wrong, after all, look at all the hard work and effort we put into it. I can also remember the passion that was poured into the first rehearsals and the excitement in the performers on that first time through with the lights, props and music; the passion that was quickly lost as the days grew nearer to Christmas.
When the day came for the main production, everyone was scurrying around worried about this thing and that, checking and double checking every little detail. Then the lights faded, the music began, the curtain was raised, and all at once everything was in motion. At the end, there were cheers and smiles, encores and flowers, hugs and some tears, and then it was over. A beautiful production to share the wonderful Christmas story….
…but the one thing that I really learned, having grown up through all of it, was that even the most spiritually focused, good hearted, driven people can become so focused on the show and getting it right, that the message they are presenting is clear and beautiful to everyone, except themselves.
I hope that I haven’t given you the wrong impression, I would not have traded these times with anyone, nor would I have wanted to be anywhere else. I just wish I could have remembered to put a little more Christmas into the message to myself.
As we all prepare for this upcoming Christmas, I ask everyone to take a few minutes and sit quietly while you read the events leading to Jesus’ birth as told in the book of Luke. Take note of the many things, that if we had been there, would have been so absolutely amazing. I’m not quite sure how we would have responded, but put yourself in the story. Become one of the shepherds when the angels came. Go beyond just the birth. Read on to the day Jesus was presented to the Lord at the temple. To see Simeon’s response to the child. Take time to understand that this was the beginning of the hope for all people… right there, before their eyes!!! How awesome would that have been!!!
Take that energy, that story, those events and let them drive you through all of your preparations for this Christmas season. Whether your preparing a rehearsal, putting together a Sunday School lesson, or just enjoying some quiet time alone, keep the thought that we are about to celebrate the birth of our Savior!!! So, put the spring back into your step and the smile on your face, because Christ was born, and nothing else need take the place of that!!!
