Several years ago, our ward had an unusual Christmas party. There was no Santa appearance; no one was dressed in red or green; there were no tables laden with ham and turkey. There were no tables at all. Instead, we came with blankets, wearing bathrobes over our clothes. We arrived at the door and were met with the best approximation manageable of a meridian time Jewish town square. There was a well in the center where we got water for our meal. We went from stall to stall to get meats and cheeses, bread and simple sweets and then we sat with our families on our blankets and ate. At a certain point in the evening, a small group of people more successfully dressed than the rest of us began walking from one end of the room toward the stage area. The woman looked pregnant and tired. And then a little bit later, a small family appeared in a cave like area. This was our nativity. I had a new baby at the time, my hormones and feelings were tender. The idea of having a baby in a cave in this very simple time was daunting. It was a sweet and tender meeting as we contemplated being there, perhaps a shepherd, perhaps an innkeeper, just being at the feet of the newborn King. My dear friend had a 2 yr old at the time and he was wandering a bit as some of the families made their way to "greet" the baby Jesus. My friend called to him, B~, we're going to see the baby Jesus, come here. And he came running: "I'm coming baby Jesus, I'm coming!"
That tender, enthusiastic call from a little boy has stuck with me. Am I coming to greet the Savior? What am I doing to make my way toward Him?
Perhaps I feel the need to make my way more forcefully toward my Savior at Christmas time because everyone is singing O Come all Ye Faithful. I know that, at Christmas time, I feel the need to clear a path in the commercial calls for every cool new toy so that my children can know where to look to find Him. Maybe that's why I have four nativity scenes in my house. Maybe that's why my favorite Christmas saying remains up year round: Wise Men Still Seek Him. I want to be wise. I want to keep firm in my mind the two most powerful words in the scriptures: Look and Remember. I want to see. I want to remember. I want to join my feeble grumpy voice with little two year old B~: "I'm coming baby Jesus, I'm coming!"
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3 comments:
I love the idea of this party. I really wish our ward would do something more Christ-centered. But instead our stake center gym looks like the North Pole threw up on it for a month... red and green plaid EVERYWHERE!! I really don't like bringing Santa in to Christmas much. We've even talked about not even teaching our kids about Santa. I know they'll learn about Santa from someone, but I'd rather us focus on Christ. We have nothing with Santa on it in our house and I really prefer it that way. We have three nativities and i love that my boys both know that they're looking at baby Jesus. It just feels right. I like the idea of keeping that sign up year round. I have one as well. I just might do that.
We have never really overtly talked about Santa. It just happens. I have been very grateful over the past few years that our stake president carefully but STRONGLY discouraged wards from inviting Santa to ward Christmas parties. It has helped the general tone of our parties immensely.
"I'm coming baby Jesus, I'm coming!" I love it!
This should be the new Christmas tradition!
JoLyn
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