The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 1
WHOOSH!
“Wow, what was that?” The father yelled as he slammed on the breaks.
“It looked like a bird. What is it doing out here in this snowstorm? I almost hit it!”
It was a dark and snowy late December eve, and the Starre family was on their way to their church’s Christmas pageant. The napping children in the crowded backseat woke up with a jolt, and the older ones immediately started to bicker.
“You make a stupid shepherd,” said Cammy. She just turned 11 and was very impatient with her brother who was three years younger. Sammy sobbed and tried to kick Cammy, but he hit his baby sister’s car seat instead. Startled, little Lammy began to cry. Their mother turned her head and whispered sternly, “Look, you’ve made your little sister cry. Can’t you two stop fighting? It’s Christmas Eve!” The two children pouted as they continued to give each other nasty stares. An unsettled silence filled the car.
They finally pulled into the church parking lot. It was packed. Silently, the family weaved their way through the icy darkness towards the brightly lit church doors.
Suddenly, a large shape loomed out from between the parked cars. Startled, everyone stepped back as a shabbily dressed man held out his hand to them. “Do you have anything for an old man?” he asked, snow covering his beard, “I’m hungry.” Sammy huddled behind his father’s legs, but Cammy quickly recovered herself. “Go get a job, you slob!” she said and hastily strutted past him. Her parents whispered apologies to the man as her dad handed him a bill. They left him standing in the snow.
Once inside the church, the two oldest children quickly rushed to join the loud crowd of laughing classmates. Excitement filled the air as their Sunday School teacher helped them transform sheets and blankets into shepherd costumes.
Cammy was jealous that she did not get to play Mary’s part, and she was not afraid to let her feelings be known. “I don’t know why Lindsey got to be Mary,” Cammy whispered loudly to her friend. “Her hair is so ugly, and look at that nose!” Her click of girlfriends giggled with her. Lindsey pretended not to hear Cammy’s cruel words and turned her head so they would not see her tears.
All the parents were quite happy and proud to see their children on stage. Unexpected laughter erupted when one of the dogs dressed as a sheep picked up a stuffed lamb and carried it off stage.
Near the end of the pageant, Sammy anxiously stood up and walked to the manger. It was time to say his line, but when he looked out at the audience, he was so frightened he saw monsters! He froze! Cammy made a disgusted sound and rolled her eyes as Sammy ran off the stage, crying.
Silence prevailed as a glum family drove home.
Later that night, as the children were getting ready for bed, Sammy let his mood shift as he talked about all the presents that Santa would bring them.
“There is no Santa,” Cammy defiantly proclaimed.
“Yes, there is,” Sammy declared as he perched on the end of his bed, looking out the window.
“Look,” he said, suddenly excited, “there he is!”
Cammy jumped up to look out the window. “That’s not Santa,” she said, “it’s just a star.”
Sammy stood at the window, his eyes alight with wonder. “Look! This star is moving closer and closer,” he yelled. “It’s so close I bet I can touch it!”
He put his hand up to the window. The glass in the window dissolved in the bright light, and a hand appeared and grabbed Sammy. Someone or something was pulling him out of his bedroom window!
“Help!” he called out as he began to float out the window. Cammy, in desperation, grabbed his leg. Someone was pulling Sammy out the window, and Cammy was helpless to stop it.
She held on tightly, and together they found themselves engulfed in the loving arms of an angel.
Floating within the tail of the star, they passed through time and space. The children saw the stars turn slowly, and below them, they saw the blue and green earth spinning in circles.
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 2
Sammy and Cammy woke up on the cold, rocky ground of a field. Frightened and in a daze, they remained there, almost paralyzed, as they watched a bright light retreat into the sky. It took its place as the middle star in Orion’s belt.
Too frightened to move, Cammy was still quick to blame Sammy. “What did you do! Holy Cow! Where are we?”
“I don’t know! I don’t know!” Sammy responded, sobbing while he lay on his back, looking around. They stared at each other.
“Maybe I’m dreaming,” Cammy said. “We are both at home in bed, and I’ll wake up soon.” “Right,” replied Sammy. “We’re dreaming.”
“Oh, you are crazy,” Cammy replied. “We can’t both be dreaming the same dream. I’m the one who is dreaming.”
Too shocked at their surroundings to move, they stared at the stars through the tall grasses that surrounded them. The patch of sky over their heads looked like black velvet with tiny sparkling holes in it. They were mesmerized by the infinite number of stars they could see.
Suddenly, an open mouth with big teeth appeared over them. They grabbed each other in fright. It took a bite of the tall grass. Then another mouth appeared, followed by many more. The children huddled down, holding each other in fear. A bird suddenly swooped in between the hungry sheep and the children. Startled, the sheep wandered off.
Quickly, the children turned over and got on their hands and knees. They peered through the tall grasses and began to notice their other surroundings. Was there a certain sweetness in the air? In the pre-dawn light, they saw a tiny baby lamb prancing towards them.
“Oh, look,” Sammy exclaimed as he ran over to pet it, “it’s a real baby lamb!”
“Stay away from my lamb!” A voice yelled out as a boy appeared over a rise and ran towards them, swinging a large stick.
The two bewildered children were now under attack.
“Leave our sheep alone!” cried a girl about Cammy’s age. She followed the first shepherd down the hill towards the children.
Sammy and Cammy were so frightened, they just hugged each other and burst into tears.
The strangers halted and stared at the two shivering children. “They are not thieves,” the older one said to the young boy. “Thieves don’t cry like that. And what are they wearing?” Her tone suddenly changed when she looked at their clothes.
Sammy and Cammy stared at the newcomers and their strange clothing. “Are you in a pageant?” Sammy’s voice wavered as he tried to make sense of what was happening.
“What’s a pageant? And what are YOU wearing? ” the young girl responded as she burst into laughter. “Look!” she exclaimed to her brother, “They don’t even have sandals on their feet!”
Sammy and Cammy looked down at their cold, bare feet and started crying again. Nothing was making sense!
The shepherds began to take pity on the two lost and confused children. In an attempt to calm them down, the young shepherds introduced themselves. “I’m Samantha, and this is my brother Ben,” started the girl, “and these are our sheep. We are here to protect them. Oh!” she said, looking up to the hill, “Here come our parents.”
“What’s going on here?” Samantha’s father asked as he approached the newcomers, “Who are you?”
Before Sammy or Cammy could say a word, a large white dove appeared out of nowhere, landed briefly on Sammy’s shoulder, then…
WHOOSH!
It flew off toward the east.
When the group’s eyes followed it, they were aghast. What seemed impossible to them was appearing before their eyes! A star slowly descended towards them. Its tiny points of light got brighter as it swirled faster and faster and came closer and closer. An angel materialized from within the blinding light. It was just over their heads. They gasped, too terrified to move, as they felt the heavenly glow of light coming from the angel touch them.
The angel began to speak.
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 3
The Angel’s voice was smooth and musical. It had a calming effect on the huddled mass of shepherds.
“Do not be afraid! Look! I am here to bring you news of great joy for all people. For on this very day, there was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, a Savior. He is a deliverer, the anointed one, the Messiah. And this will be a sign to you: you will find a newborn wrapped in swaddling bands of cloth, lying in a manger.”
Suddenly, other stars in the sky started to swirl. It was maddening. The tiny points of light became closer, and slowly a crowd of angels appeared, lighting up the sky almost as bright as day.
The shepherds, again, stared in awe, mystified at the vision.
The angels began to sing in chorus:
“ Glory to God, the Most High. And
indeed, peace upon the Earth and
delightful pleasures to all individuals.”
The main chorus of angels slowly began to move back into the sky, dissolving as they retreated towards the sunrise’s brightening clouds. The first Angel supervised their departure. As the chorus disappeared, she smiled at the children and slowly started to dissolve into atomic shapes.
Sammy and Cammy begin to panic. They became even MORE frightened after seeing the angels in the sky. Sammy reached such a state of panic that he forgot his shyness and yelled out to the disappearing Angel.
“Wait! Wait!” he cried in desperation. “Why are we here? How do we get home?” The Angel smiled kindly at the two panicked children. “Don’t cry,” she responded mysteriously. ”Don’t you know? You can go back to that little bedroom of yours right now if you want to. You will wake up, and this will seem like a dream, but you will always
wonder what might have happened.” She laughed and spread her arms out, “If you choose to stay, I can guarantee you that you will go home as soon as you discover why you are here. It’s your choice.”
The angel’s presence warmed the air, and for the first time since their arrival, Sammy and Cammy finally calmed down a bit.
Sammy was the first to speak, “Is this really the first Christmas Eve? Is any of this real?” He picked up a rock and threw it. “The rock is real,” Cammy commented. The two of them stared at the stones, the mountains, the shepherds, and their eyes finally returned to the Angel. ”If everything else is real,” Cammy whispered to Sammy, “then SHE is real too.This really IS the first Christmas Eve! Sammy, we are here near Bethlehem, on Christmas Eve! Just imagine! We are going to get to see Jesus!”
Black smoke from a nearby fire moved towards them and surrounded the two confused children. It clouded their vision and their minds. Suddenly, their fears erupted, and Sammy started to cry. “I don’t care,” he said, “I want to go home now! The Angel said we wouldn’t get home unless we figure out why we ended up here. What if we never find out? What if we’re stuck here forever?” He wailed loudly and threw himself on the ground.
“Well…” Cammy responded thoughtfully, “I will miss my friends, mommy, and daddy…Maybe…”
Just then, the white bird flew into the smoke, and the darkness began to slither away.
Cammy was the first one to get her courage back. She shook her head and blinked. ”What was I thinking?” she said aloud. “Finding Jesus is more important than anything!”
Sammy looked up at the waiting Angel and turned his gaze towards the silent shepherds, still huddled together in awe of the Angel’s presence. “We are here to find Christ, and I don’t want to go home until we do!” he declared. His voice was so loud that everyone turned to look at him. Uncharacteristically, Sammy didn’t even blush.
The Angel smiled as she dissolved into the sky, “Be careful, and God bless!” she said as her voice faded into the wind.
Ben and Samantha’s mother approached the children. “You will need some clothes and sandals if you are going to come with us,” she said as she handed them what appeared to be rags. Gratefully Sammy and Cammy accepted their new clothing. They giggled quietly, “They’re not sheets and blankets, that’s for sure,” Cammy whispered. They held up their new clothes, quizzically, “What do we do with these things?”
Samantha and Ben noticed their obvious bewilderment and rushed over to help. “You must come from a very foreign country,” Ben commented, seeing that the children had put their clothes on upside down. “This goes OVER your head,” he said kindly. Sammy and Cammy smiled and thought to themselves, “If they only knew…”
Samantha’s father led the tribe and announced their departure. “The Lord told us something wonderful tonight!” he said in a clear ringing voice, “A miracle has happened! Let us pack what we need and secure our animals so that we may leave for
Bethlehem right away. It is almost six miles away, but if we walk quickly, we can be there in a couple of hours.”
The journey continues…
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 4
“Six miles is a long way,” Sammy complained to Cammy, his feet dragging. “No one else seems to mind,” she responded, looking at the lively crowd of shepherds around them. The children thought about how many miles the shepherds must walk every day and felt a little silly for complaining.
“Look!” cried Sammy, “That bird has been following us for miles.” “That’s odd,” Cammy responded, not paying much attention to what her brother was saying. She was listening to Samantha questioning her father. “Shhh,” she motioned to Sammy, “Listen to them, they don’t know anything about Christ at all! They are in for a big surprise.” Cammy smiled to herself, and Sammy started listening to the shepherds’ conversation.
“Abba,” Samantha started,”the Angel said the baby is wrapped in swaddling clothes. That’s what our babies wear. I can’t believe that such a great person, an anointed one, would not be dressed in finer clothing. Lords don’t wear rags! Do you think the Angel made a mistake?” Her father stopped to think about that. “Do you remember the story about King Solomon? He was wrapped in swaddling clothes,” he responded.
“But Abba,” Ben chimed in, “we wrap our babies in bands of cloth, but we don’t put them in mangers! That is crazy! They are dirty, and animals eat out of them. That Angel must have been making this up.”
“I don’t think the Angel was making anything up,” replied the father. “Think about it, my son. Animals get their nourishment from the food in their mangers. The Angel called this special baby a soter, meaning he is a deliverer. Perhaps one day he will deliver us from hunger?” The rest of the shepherds cheered when they heard that. The father continued, “Maybe when he becomes our king, he will make sure that all our harvests are full, and we will always have food to eat.” Excited chatter broke out immediately while the shepherds imagined just how incredible that would be.
Sammy and Cammy could barely contain themselves. “I’m going to tell them the real story!” Sammy declared, “They think this is about food. I’ll tell them how Jesus feeds us spiritually!” He rushed up to talk to Ben’s mother and father. “Jesus, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa!” His face turned red, and he began to sputter. ”I’m sorry,” Ben’s mother replied, ” I can’t understand that language. What are you trying to say?” Sammy calmed himself down and started over again. “The Christ child was born to Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.” Frustrated, he ran away almost in tears, while the shepherds turned to continue their walk. “Poor boy,” Sammy heard the mother say when she thought he was out of earshot.
Cammy laughed so hard she had to stop to catch her breath while the troupe walked on. “What were you telling them about Jesus? Oh, I know, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.” Her eye caught the bird circling over them again. “That bird can tell them more about Jesus than you can,” she said laughingly.
Immediately, the bird landed on Sammy’s shoulder and said, “Well, actually I can. But I won’t.”
Cammy and Sammy both jumped, but the bird hung tightly to Sammy’s clothing. “What?!?” they both exclaimed in unison, staring at the bird. The bird surely could not be talking, they thought.
“Of course I can talk,” the bird said as if it were perfectly normal. “And I could tell the shepherds everything about the Christ child, but they have to find him in their hearts, and that is a personal journey.” The bird flapped his wings and said,”You come from the future, and you can’t tell them anything about it. Right now, when you talk, they hear you saying words in their language. If you try to tell them about the future, they will not understand you. You will sound like me.” At that, the bird flew away, calling, “Follow me, children, Caaa, Caaa, Caaa.”
Sammy and Cammy stood watching the bird fly away, and then, in the distance, they saw the shining city of Bethlehem.
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 5
The shepherds approached the town of Bethlehem just as the townspeople were waking up. Eagerly, Ben and Samantha’s father approached a woman in her front yard feeding her animals. “Good morning,” he said. “We have traveled far to find a newborn child. All we know is that he is a Sotar, a special Deliverer, wrapped in swaddling clothes. Do you know where he could be?”
The woman tried to be helpful but looked at him skeptically. “A newborn in this crowded city? That’s a challenge. You know, all the families are returning home for the census.” She paused. “Many of the midwives meet at the wells; maybe you should try there first.” Feeling satisfied that she had done her best to help, she returned to her chickens and sheep.
As they approached the well, they smelled fresh bread coming out of the ovens in the square. Soon the shepherds were sitting down with bread and cheese for breakfast. After the repast, they agreed to spread out and meet back at the well later in the day. Small groups went around town asking, “Where is the newborn Messiah? Where is the Soter?”
Once during the day, they saw a juggler drop his ball. Sammy picked it up and started playing hacky-sack. A crowd gathered to cheer him on, having never seen a hacky-sack, but Cammy interrupted and pulled him away.
“Hey! No playing around! If we don’t find Jesus, we can’t get home!” she scolded. “Alright party pooper,”he replied. But deep down, he knew his sister was right. They had to continue their search.
They moved from hostel to home, from shop to Temple, asking the same questions over and over again. No one seemed to be able to help them. Every midwife they met told them of all the recent births, but none of the babies in Bethlehem were just one day old. They saw babies wrapped in silk and another dressed in fur. These were not the Messiah!
At dusk, they gathered around their campfire, hopeless and exhausted. Black smoke slithered from the campfire and surrounded the shepherds. Their spirits couldn’t have been lower. They felt defeated; perhaps there was no Soter to be found.
Ben and Samantha’s father sighed, “It must have been a dream. We have found every single baby born within the last two years. There are dozens of them, but there is no Soter. I give up!” His wife agreed, “We must have imagined the whole thing, or perhaps it was a trick. We have abandoned our work long enough. There are baby lambs we have left behind, and we must return to our sheep to maintain our livelihood.” The rest of the tribe disappointingly agreed to give up and leave at dawn the next morning.
Sammy and Cammy slowly walk away from the fire to talk amongst themselves. “What can we do?” Sammy asked. “If we try to tell them what we know, they will not understand a word we say,” Cammy whispered back, frustrated. “We have to find Christ! Everyone is tired and ready to give up! But we can’t. Why can’t we find one little baby in this stupid village?” She stomped her foot in frustration.
“I don’t know, Sammy replied and then stated the obvious. “We can’t leave without finding Jesus! We’re in Bethlehem; this is our big chance. If we don’t find him, we cannot go home.”
Cammy sighed, “We know Jesus is here, but we clearly can’t find him ourselves. We need help.”
Just then, the bird landed on Cammy’s shoulder. “I am surprised at you. You have been walking the streets all day aimlessly asking people to direct you to God. Is that how you find God when you’re at home?”
“Of course not,” replied Sammy, ”We go to church.”
“And when you’re in church, how do you find God there?” the bird led on.
Cammy’s impatience was rising. “I don’t know! We’re not at home; we’re in Bethlehem. We don’t have a church here. Do churches even exist yet? How about you just tell us how to find him so we can go home?”
“The same way you find God anywhere,” the bird calmly answered, “Maybe this can help you. It is from the book of Jeremiah…
And you will seek me and find me
when you search for me with your
whole heart, mind and spirit.”
Sammy closed his eyes and repeated the bird’s words softly to himself, ”Hmmm, with my whole heart, mind, spirit…”
Cammy closed her eyes and exhaled a few times slowly, “Search with my heart…”
The children felt their hearts open up, and love permeated the air around them. They felt a warm glow rise up from inside their bodies, and they could see bright circles of yellow light pulsating from deep within. Suddenly, they both saw the iconic image of the Holy Spirit appear. Their eyes popped open and tears of joy flowed down their cheeks.
“YOU!” Sammy looked at the bird, “You can lead us to Jesus. You could all along!”
“You are right, but I had to wait until you opened your heart and your soul. God is truly everywhere. When you ask, it is given. Now come follow me.”
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 6
Excited to finally have a guide, Sammy and Cammy raced over to the devastated shepherds. “Come on! Come on! We know where to go!” they shouted in unison.
“We’re too tired.”
“There is no Messiah.”
“The angel was only a dream.”
“We are done looking.”
“Our sheep will die.”
The shepherds’ voices reflected their lethargy and loss of spirit. The children saw the black smoke of doubt and fear surrounding the shepherds, so they ran over to the fire and stomped it out vigorously. They watched the smoke slither away and disappear.
“We have been down that road a hundred times today,” the leader said with despair, “It’s time to go home.”
The two children ran around and lifted the tired shepherds up. “We know where to go,” they cried, “Look, we have a guide!” In their excitement, they started marching off, following the bird. Ben got up and shrugged his shoulders, “What do we have to lose? One more trip to town?” He followed his exuberant friends. Samantha covered herself with one more wrap and followed closely behind. One by one, the shepherds became enticed by the idea of having a guide to help them find the Messiah. They thought about how wonderful it would be to meet this holy baby! With refreshed faith in their hearts, they followed the excited children.
They walked through the village to where the buildings became few and far between. “We didn’t come out this far earlier today,’” one whispered to another, their eyes widening with anticipation. Eventually, they came upon a house on the side of a hill at the far edge of town. Following the bird, they bypassed the front door and proceeded in single file, down the side of the building. It was dark on the path, and they had to make their way through brush and debris to get through.
When they reached the lower level of the building, there was an area with animals settled in one corner and two sleeping people in another. They heard the low mewing of lambs and the rustling of hay. They could see a small stone structure off to the side, and from it, emerged a soft light.
The group of shepherds silently approached and saw a baby; the baby was the miraculous source of the light – a glowing, pure white light. They gathered around the infant and stared in awe. It was so cold they could see their breath.
Cammy was the first one to speak. “Oh my God,” she said, and Sammy completed the thought, “It’s God! Jesus really IS the Light of the world!” “Yes,” said Cammy, “his heart is glowing with love. When all of humanity loves like this, there will be no darkness.”
At that moment, a wind blew through the stall, and the infant stirred. The newborn had lost his blanket, and Sammy and Cammy were staring at the Christ child who was getting cold. What could they do?
Sammy wondered aloud, “ Baby Jesus is cold! But, he is God! Should we even dare to get close enough to him to cover him up?”
Dark smoke from the fire slowly crept up Cammy’s back, making her hesitate. “I don’t know,” she said,” maybe if we were holy saints we could touch him. I don’t know if we are worthy of getting close to God…”
The bird who brought them jumped off the railing and knocked a bucket of water into the fire. The smoke of unworthiness dissipated with a hiss.
“Cammy! We have to do something,” said Sammy, thinking clearly again.
“You’re right; Jesus would not have been born a human if he did not want people to be close to him. Let’s cover him up together.”
They held hands and gently approached the baby. Together they picked him up and wrapped his blankets around him gingerly and silently.
As they laid him down, the baby made gurgling sounds and lifted his hand to touch them simultaneously. Suddenly, the sound of static electricity filled the air, and flashes of light flew around the room. Everything was coming from their point of contact with Jesus. For a few seconds, the light blinded the children.
They heard a voice recite from Corinthians 3:18, “And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors, the glory of the Lord, all glow brighter and brighter and are turned into the image that we reflect.”
When the room returned to normal, the two children looked at each other and were amazed at what they saw – bright lights were gleaming in their hearts! They looked around the room and found the same thing. EVERYONE had a glow coming from their heart!
The Journey to Christ: A Christmas Story, Chapter 7
Sammy and Cammy continued to stare at each other and all the shepherds. They could see the light of God in everyone! It was amazing to them and hard to believe. As they questioned this in their minds, the bird appeared and landed on the manger. “Why are you so surprised? Didn’t you know that all humans are children of God? “
“Well, yes, but, this?” Cammy stumbled, “I didn’t think it meant ME. I didn’t think it meant everyone!” She paused again, “What about bad people,” she whispered.
“Caaa, Caaa! There are no ‘bad’ people in the eyes of Christ; no one is excluded from the love of God! Remember, Jesus said, ‘I am the vine, and you are the branches.’ He was talking about the whole human race. Caaa, the life of Christ that flows through the vine must flow into all the branches! Caaa!” The bird replied and then quickly flew up into the rafters.
As she was flying away, tiny sparks appeared over the Baby. He looked up and smiled. The tiny lights looked like atoms spinning. They got larger and brighter as they spun around faster and faster. Eventually, the Angel materialized. Her head and most of her body seemed solid, but her feet were still in their atomic form. Sammy and Cammy bravely faced the Angel. She smiled at them and asked, “How was your journey?”
Sammy could not contain his exuberance. “Insane! We found Jesus, but then this crazy light thing happened. We couldn’t see anything and now we look like we have lightbulbs in our bodies!” Cammy answered more thoughtfully, “I heard that we were children of God, but I didn’t think it meant THIS!” She said, pointing to her glowing heart.
The Angel sighed sweetly, “But you remember Genesis, don’t you? God said,’ Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’.” She laughed to herself. “Did you think that God has two eyes, a nose, and a mouth just like yours? You were made in His Image; he wasn’t made in YOURS! No. No. No.” She chuckled, “Love is the image. The greater your love for yourselves and others, the brighter the light that shines within. That is how you reflect yourselves as images of God. By your Love.”
The bird came down to join this conversation,” When you are shining your light, you are increasing other’s light. Don’t you notice how love begets love?”
Sammy piped up, “You mean like when you are nice to someone, they are usually nice to you?”
The Angel smiled at them,”I think they are ready to go home.”
“Home!” the two exclaimed; they were ready,
“Can I kiss Jesus goodbye”? Cammy asked tentatively. “There are no goodbyes,” the Angel answered, “Jesus will always be in your heart.”
Cammy and Sammy held Jesus in their arms and kissed him. Their bodies slowly dissolved into tiny sparks of light, and then…
WHOOSH!
“Wow, what was that?” The father yelled as he slammed on the breaks.
“It looked like a bird. What is it doing out here in this snowstorm? I almost hit it!”
It was a dark and snowy late December eve, and the Starre family was on their way to their church’s Christmas pageant. The napping children in the crowded backseat woke up with a jolt, and the older ones immediately started to talk about how much fun a snow day would be! Mom passed out cookies.
“You’re going to be a great shepherd,” said Cammy, smiling at Sammy. “I agree,” said her mom. They all smiled as they thought about what a magical night they were going to have. When they pulled into the church parking lot, it was packed. Laughing at a joke Cammy just told, the family weaved their way through the icy darkness towards the brightly lit church doors.
Suddenly, a large shape loomed out from between the parked cars. Startled, everyone stepped back as a shabbily dressed man held out his hand to them. “Do you have anything for an old man?” he asked, snow covering his beard, “I’m hungry.” Cammy stepped up, “Please come inside and see our pageant,” she said, “It is warm, and there will be plenty of food afterward.” Happily, he followed the family inside.
Once inside the church, the two oldest children quickly rushed to join the loud crowd of laughing classmates. Excitement filled the air as their Sunday School teacher helped them transform sheets and blankets into shepherd costumes.
Cammy gathered with her group of friends. “Look at Lindsey,” she said, smiling, “she did a great job remembering her lines. She makes such a beautiful Mary.” Lindsey heard her and smiled.
“Okay, everyone! It’s time to take your places,” called out the Sunday School teacher. The curtain rose.
The children dressed as angels started to sing “Glory to God on the Highest, and peace to his people on earth.” The pageant flowed smoothly.
It was Cammy’s turn to speak, “Come on, everyone!” She called to the shepherds, “Let’s go find the Lord!” She and Sammy looked at each other, thinking, was something odd about this?
She led the shepherds in circles around the stage until they came to a far corner. Then, the people backstage pulled the curtain back, and Mary and Joseph were sitting in front of a manger with a little plastic baby doll in it.
Cammy proclaimed, “Look, everyone! The Christ child!”
Now it was time for Sammy to say his line. He walked up to the manger and looked out at the audience. He saw his parents and many other people smiling.
A hand flipped a light switch as Sammy called out, “Behold the light of the world!” The plastic baby doll lit up.
Sammy and Cammy looked at each other in remembrance. Their hearts glowed, “Oh my!”Cammy called out.
“I remember!” Sammy answered. The two of them stood on stage, and suddenly the whole trip to Bethlehem came flooding back to them.
They looked at each other and saw the inner glow. They turned to look at the audience, and everyone had the same glow of love, the light, the life of Christ in their hearts!
Just then, the chorus of angels on stage started to sing, and the audience joined in:
“Joy to the world the Lord has come..…”
The End
And the beginning…