It’s time to write the Christmas play.

It’s time to write the Christmas play. I know, you may be rolling your eyes thinking it’s not even Halloween yet, but we have to start practicing in November and October is quickly coming to an end. For the past five years, I have been involved in writing my church’s Christmas play. My husband and I helped with the play for several years and then we became concerned that the true story of the birth of Christ has somehow gotten lost. While the yearly plays were entertaining, they seemed to revolve around the music and a child star and not around the scripture. After discussing this with our children’s pastor, I went in search of a traditional Christmas play. I couldn’t find one.

I remembered all of the church plays from my childhood. They weren’t some big musical extravaganza. They were simple with shepherds wearing robes and other homemade costumes. We sang Silent Night and Away in a Manger. These humble church plays have stayed with me throughout my life and when I mention them to other people my age, they feel the same way. They were simply children telling the story of the birth of Jesus.

After an exhaustive internet search, I decided to write my own. I mean, the majority of the work was done for me in the Book of Luke. It was a lot of fun and we got a good response. The only negative comments were, “It wasn’t long enough”. The next year we added a modern scene where the grandmother was telling her grandchildren the Christmas story and we would flashback to the Bible scenes still remaining true to the Christmas story found in the Bible. The next year, we had travelers stranded in a hotel on Christmas Eve and a missionary told the Christmas story. My daughter co-wrote that one and last year, she wrote it on her own.

The question we seem to get year after year from a select few is, “Is it the same play as last year?” This really troubles my daughter because she has put so much work in putting it together. The answer of course is “yes”. While we change-up some modern scenes each year, the story remains the same. A virgin named Mary is visited by and angel and told she will give birth to the son of God. Her husband to be, is visited by an angel and told to stand by her. They go to Bethlehem and have to give birth to their baby in a stable. There are shepherds who are visited by angels and told of the miraculous birth. There are wise men who follow a star and bring gifts to the Baby Jesus.

The core of the play doesn’t change because the story doesn’t change. We are teaching our children to pay respects to their savior in a way that is unique to children, in a way that I was taught as a child, in a way that my mother was taught as a child and that never has to change. Every year as I see the little angels sing “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” to the shepherds, I get teary and I thank God for the birth of his son and for the ability to tell the story through little ones.

I am simply passing on what was passed to me. New and improved is not necessarily better. What about you? What beautiful gifts and traditions would you like to pass on to the little ones in your life?

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂