Christmas Is Just Around the Corner

I just purchased my third manger scene this year. In fact, it will go in my office this week to join two others that I keep up all year long. The other two new ones will stay at home and will go up the moment Kathy lets me put them out, maybe when we're cleaning up the dining room and kitchen after Thanksgiving dinner.

I am just a big "kid" when it comes to Christmas. Over the next weeks leading up to the actual day, I'll write several blogs about special memories and events, plus share a story or two. Here's the first wonderful memory.

I was raised in a Spanish speaking church. As a child, I could hardly wait each year until the annual Christmas pageant was held in our church. I remember this huge stage that stretched for hundreds of feet in each direction, with a cast of hundreds portraying the wonderful story of Christ coming to earth. It seemed like every adult in our church was in costume. Even though I had the story memorized, and I struggled to understand all the words (after all, it was in Spanish), it was new and fresh every year. To top it all off, as each child left the sanctuary that night, they were given a bag full of candy, nuts and a piece of fruit. Since my grandfather was the founding pastor of the church, I usually left with him and he was always the last one out. That usually meant that if there were any extra bags, I would get two. Every year I fell in love with the story again, and as I learned how to play the piano better, I began to contribute a little bit to the celebration. Even now, I can see the outline of the Inn, the stable with the manger, straw and farm animals drawn on the stable walls. What great memories...

Several years ago I had the opportunity to poke my head inside the church for a look, after having been gone from San Jose for many years. I couldn't believe how small the stage looked. How did they get all those people up there? I even checked to make sure that they hadn't remodeled the stage and reduced the size. Fortunately, when I think back and visualize those wonderful pageants, I see them like I remember them as a child. I wonder if they still do a pageant at the church? It would be great to visit one Christmas. Too bad the church isn't "just around the corner".