The Very Best "Best Christmas Pageant Ever"
I love everything about Christmas. I admit it. You could call me a Christma-holic. I love red and green plaid, Santa plates and Carols ranging from Andy Williams to the glass-breaking queen herself. In other words, I am here for the pageantry.
With all that, however, one can lose sight of what is beneath all of the glitter and candlelight. For me, I have three touchstones throughout my life that kept my feet on the ground.
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To start, my mother always made sure we remembered what the day was about. After we dragged them out of the bed (much too early, I now know as a parent), we were allowed to ooh and ahh over what the Big Guy had brought and open our stockings. She would then bring hot chocolate and we gather around while she read the Nativity from the big, beautiful family Bible that normally sat in a place of honor. No gifts were opened until after that special time. (To clarify, Santa doesn't wrap in our home - he stages.)
What's the Hub-Bub All About?
Culturally, a TV show and a book also towed the line. A certain Peanuts creator feared all those years ago that we had fully lost sight of meaning of Christmas and he gave Linus the spotlight to remind his friends, those drawn and those watching just what all the hub-bub was about. I still watch it to this day.
Finally, there was a book that sadly had fallen to the recesses of my mind. I discovered it in third grade and reread it several times.
The book was Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The story centers around a family of misfit children - they lie, cheat, and swear. They have NEVER been to church, so what are they doing in the pageant? They don't know anything about Jesus. They are dirty and poor. They are obviously going to ruin it. But, are they?
What I loved about the book then, and in the upcoming release of the film, is the question, "What really makes a special Christmas pageant?" In other words, how do we properly tell the story of the birth of Jesus? If you haven't read the book, it is a treasure, so I do recommend it. I will also be recommending the film adaptation. Narrated by Lauren Graham as the daughter of beleaguered pageant director (played beautifully by Judy Greer), it takes me back to the days of listening to my mother reading the passages of Luke.
Suffer little children to come unto me
The lesson of both without spoiling the beauty of story is that too often the pageantry forgets the pageant. Watching the Herdmans, yes, the "Herd"mans ask the most real and honest questions about the most irregular birth ever. Set in the early 1970s when the original book was written allows for a genuine innocence when an afternoon in the library was a real thing. To answer questions, a card catalog was a reference point rather than that online juggernaut beginning with G.
Finally, as I step carefully around any spoilers beyond its own name, the role of mothers in this film is quite profound - those seen and unseen. I want to send a big shout-out to the writer who pointed out what a tough mother Mary had to be. That often gets forgotten in our many tranquil portraits. As the Herdman children rightfully point out, that stable was no place to have a baby, and that manger was no place for a bed.
The film opens this Friday, November 8th and it is a lovely respite from the craziness that will quickly be enveloping us known as the holidays. It is rated PG but if you are old enough to remember when movies that weren't animated used to get a G for General Admission, this would feel more like that. It is a true family film - take the kids, take your 90yo Aunt Edith. It's a lovely film for everyone who celebrates Christmas.
