Rehearsing holiness

Christmas Eve

Happy are the people who know the festal shout!
they walk, O Lord, in the light of your presence.
Psalm 89:15

The pageant rehearsal begins with the usual amount of enthusiasm as parents and teachers channel the kid energy into entrances and exits and the obligatory manger tableau with good humor. I marvel how even this preparation is a way of telling the story. Not just the story of Jesus’ birth, but the story of how God’s love radiates into the world.

I admire the costumes waiting to be tried on, and one of the parents points to the older cardboard angel wings which we no longer use, recounting when she wore those wings as a child. And I realize preparing and performing the pageant is also the story of how we are connected to the holy across generations. We are creating memories and handing down tradition and forming one another.

The time is almost here. Soon, the stars in the bright sky will look down on this truly holy assembly as they offer up a rendition of Away in the Manger that is sure to melt hearts. And Jesus will be born again.



Image by congerdesign from Pixabay