Christmas--When We Need to Work Fast and Breathe Slow

"I think we need to just stop!" the song leader had declared Sunday morning as he began the Christmas program with a Christmas carol or two.

"There's so much rush and pell mell and shopping and trying to get it all done--

and we need to just stop and slow down."

Guilty.

Our morning had started out with rushing about as usual to load people, food, clothes, props for the program, gifts for extended family, Christmas cards for church family, and various other paraphernalia into the van.

There we went down the road, cards and bows and elf hats all over the dash.

Children safely strapped in and grinning like silly monkeys.

Mom on the front seat, her lap piled with stuff that wouldn't fit elsewhere--somehow having managed to laugh about it!

We had hurried through the one hour practice for the program, the children saying their pieces or playing their songs on bells or piano,

and getting all the little children of the church outfitted with costumes for the manger scene.

The children and I had made these sheep out of poster board and batting.

And so there we were, beginning the service, children antsy about their pieces, parents probably antsier, and we are reminded about slowing down.
He said he had thought about singing "Alleluia," really slow.

Maybe we should have.
We did need to slow down--perhaps.
Because Christmas is all about Jesus.
Yes, it is. 

But it is also about being His hand extended, and His heart beating.
It's about being a vessel He can use.
It's about the whole Christmas spirit--the coming together of a bunch of poor, flawed humans

who sometimes get bothered with each other,

and just coming together and cooperating enough to play a couple Christmas songs on the hand bells, directed by a lady who has found a new home in our church--
and who had an old set of bells that she wanted to be used.

It is also about reaching out to the parents and siblings of new or old children who have been coming to church.

Giving new people a reason to come--

and take pictures.

It's a reason to include children from broken homes,

children who wake up crying at night, afraid they will not be allowed to stay with a foster mom at our church.

One wakes up at night throwing up from stress.

It's about including other precious children who have just been rescued from a horrible, debasing situation,

and teaching them and helping them to sing "Away in a Manger."

It's about teaching little children to get up, speak up, and then shut up.

It's about the beautiful message of the hymn, "Silent Night," played from the arrangement the bell choir director asked Carrie and Rose to do, accompanied by Sis. Gault.

It's about another nervous young girl singing so well, "C is for the Christ child, born upon the hay."

accompanied by her father on the guitar--playing so nicely and gently.

And our own boy saying a piece he'd practiced so hard to learn.

It's about church moms and new moms at church and grandmothers and children all leaving the sanctuary toward the end of the service to get ready for the manger scene and song.
It's about them all working together to make sure every little child, even the ones who arrived only one week before, can wear some kind of costume and be included in the manger scene---

because each child is valuable, and Christ came for all, and there is room at the cross for you!

And yes, the wise men were wearing everything from dress shoes to sneakers to snow boots, 

and you'd never know which ones were my kid's, would you?

And it was about the moms and grandmoms standing there keeping the children quiet as they waited in the foyer for the pastor to tell all about what Christ did,

and no, it didn't seem very spiritual standing back there taking pictures of antsy little children in their costumes and then getting down to their tiny level and showing them their own pictures on the tiny camera screen

to cheer them and keep them quiet, especially the ones who wake up crying or throwing up at night from the distress they live with.

 Yes, we needed to be reminded to slow down, and to just stop.

And we did.

But then we kept right on going through the program and the greeting of each other afterward, and the cleaning up and dismantling of the "stable," and putting things to rights for the evening service.

Because Christmas is about church family--and reaching out to that person you've had a problem with, or who has had a problem with you, and going ahead and shaking that hand and saying, "Merry Christmas" with a smile from your face and goodwill from your heart--and funny how you can forget about that miff.

And Christmas is about extended family, too, and getting together for Christmas Sunday dinner,

including the greenery and tinsel and bright colors and twinkling lights and Christmas cans of popcorn from Walmart or Kmart lined up against the wall, dressed up with big, fancy bows.

 It's about setting beautiful tables like Grandma does,

and setting on little round goblets of colorful fruit salad.

But it's also about greeting that person maybe you've had a tiff or a miff with,
or who's had a tiff or a miff with you.

Just going ahead and looking them in the eye and saying, "Merry Christmas!"

and finding something kind and cheerful to say..

It's about acting with dignity and strength instead of with craven fear.
 Because if we are busy hanging onto the branches of our little miff tree, hanging desperately onto old grudges, fearful of the foolish gossip going around,

or wallowing about in cynicism, sure that a liar lies in wait behind every bush and a hypocrite lurks behind every pew at church,

then yes, we really do need to STOP and sing more than a few Christmas carols.

 Because Christmas is about letting go of the old and welcoming the new.
 It's also about welcoming a newcomer into the family--Irina from Russia,

Jonathan's uncle's fiance.

It was a pleasure getting to meet her and get acquainted--and to invite them both to our church's candlelight service that evening--and then to have them be willing to come!

It made our Christmas--even as they said this wonderful day made theirs, too!

 Uncle George met people at our church that he hadn't seen in 57 years, he said, and he felt like it was a "home-coming."

And isn't Christmas about coming home?

I saw Irina look about at all the bright candles that night, and the bright faces, and isn't Christmas about lights and joy?

The girls played their bell duet again, this time accompanied by Crystal, who had only that day to practice for it, and who did so well. Piano lessons at college have kept her progressing.

We were so proud of her. 

We also did that little skit I already shared about in the other post, "Keeping Christmas."

And isn't Christmas about doing something, whatever it is, as a family, and being proud of one another and feeling blessed?

But isn't it also about reaching out to people who don't have loving and supportive families?

Isn't it about including in the candlelighting boys from a very difficult and broken home--

 who sometimes struggle to behave in school and keep from getting suspended?

A boy who doesn't have much to live for besides Ramen noodles and an X-box?

Letting him carry the candle down the aisle, lighting others' candles?

 Maybe we do have to rush about sometimes at Christmas

in order to do these kind of things. 

Maybe our lives do rush pellmell sometimes as we strive to bring a little joy and light to a darkened world, as we wear ourselves out reaching out to the homeless and cheerless and tear-streaked and sick at heart.

Maybe we have to spend quite a bit of time putting out fires and helping people come down their miff trees and lay down their grudges and forgive each other and say sorry,

and it isn't just little kids who need help doing those things. 

Maybe our lives aren't always serene and uninterrupted and waveless.

The lives of our brothers and sisters in persecuted lands aren't, either.

The lives of those fleeing from ISIS aren't, either.

And so, yes, it is good to stop and sing more than one Christmas carol.

But it is also good to remember we don't have much time left to do good--

and so we ought to do it with all our might. 

It's true we'll come home to stacks of dirty dishes,

 and a messy table,

 back home to stacks of dirty laundry and to coats and skit paraphernalia dumped all over the furniture.

but if our lives can't be a living Christmas carol,

is it really Christmas?

So can we work fast
and breathe slow this week?
And yes, stop somewhere along the line to sing more than one Christmas carol, too!