Celebrate Christmas

Posted On December 21, 2021

Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child

My Mother Loved to Celebrate Christmas

Ever since I can remember, my mother loved Christmas because it was the time that all of her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren (44 of us by the time she passed away in 2016) were usually gathered together in one place. When I was still a kid at home, we gathered at our church, Pleasant Grove (mypgumc.org), in Hatton, for the annual Christmas Eve Sunday School program. After the program, we’d all go back to our house where we would open our presents. We never waited until the next morning. Mother would always be the one to pass around the presents and she would be in her element. She loved seeing the sparkle of anticipation in all the kids eyes as they received their presents.

I often think of Mother when I go about decorating my house now for Christmas. Along with my decorating, comes my last “deep clean” of the house for the year. This year, I was polishing the spool cabinet that had been hers and I was having trouble closing a drawer. After removing all the drawers, I discovered some crumpled papers from the past that had caught between them. One was a list of her classmates from the 1935 class of Hereford High School. The other was a small Guideposts Christmas booklet. I’m sure she saved the booklet because it contained the following story.

Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child

Trouble at the Inn

For years now whenever Christmas pageants are talked about in a certain little town in the Midwest, someone is sure to mention the name of Wallace Purling. Wally’s performance in one annual production of the Nativity play has slipped into the realm of legend. But the old-timers who were in the audience that night never tire of recalling exactly what happened.

Wally was nine that year and in the second grade, though he should have been in the fourth. Most people in town knew that he had difficulty in keeping up. He was big and clumsy, slow in movement and mind. Still, Wally was well liked by the other children in his class, all of whom were smaller than he, though the boys had trouble hiding their irritation when Wally would ask to play ball with them or any game, for that matter, in which winning was important.

Most often they’d find a way to keep him out but Wally would hang around anyway–not sulking, just hoping. He was always a helpful boy, a willing and smiling one, and the natural protector, paradoxically, of the underdog. Sometimes if the older boys chased the younger ones away, it would always be Wally who’d say, “Can’t they stay? They’re no bother.”

Wally fancied the idea of being a shepherd with a flute in the Christmas pageant that year, but the play’s director, Miss Lumbard, assigned him a more important role. After all, she reasoned, the Innkeeper did not have too many lines, and Wally’s size would make his refusal of lodging to Joseph more forceful.

And so it happened that the usual large, partisan audience gathered for the town’s yearly extravaganza of crooks and creches, of beards, crowns, halos and a whole stageful of squeaky voices. No one on stage or off was more caught up in the magic of the night than Wallace Purling. They said later that he stood in the wings and watched the performance with such fascination that from time to time Miss Lumbard had to make sure he didn’t wander onstage before his cue.

Then the time came when Joseph appeared, slowly, tenderly guiding Mary to the door of the inn. Joseph knocked hard on the wooden door set into the painted backdrop. Wally the Innkeeper was there, waiting.

“What do you want?” Wally said, swinging the door open with a brusque gesture.

“We seek lodging.”

“Seek it elsewhere.” Wally looked straight ahead but spoke vigorously. “The inn is filled.”

“Sir, we have asked everywhere in vain. We have traveled far and are very weary.”

“There is no room in this inn for you.” Wally looked properly stern.

“Please, good innkeeper, this is my wife, Mary. She is heavy with child and needs a place to rest. Surely you must have some small corner for her. She is so tired.”

Now, for the first time, the Innkeeper relaxed his stiff stance and looked down at Mary. With that, there was a long pause, long enough to make the audience a bit tense with embarrassment. “No! Begone!” the prompter whispered from the wings.

“No!” Wally repeated automatically “Begone!”

Joseph sadly placed his arm around Mary and Mary laid her head upon her husband’s shoulder and the two of them started to move away. The Innkeeper did not return inside his inn, however. Wally stood there in the doorway, watching the forlorn couple. His mouth was open, his brow creased with concern, his eyes filling unmistakably with tears. And suddenly this Christmas pageant became different from all others.

“Don’t go, Joseph,” Wally called out. “Bring Mary back.” And Wallace Purling’s face grew into a bright smile. “You can have my room.”

Some people in town thought that the pageant had been ruined. Yet there were others–many, many others–who considered it the most Christmasy of all Christmas pageants they had ever seen.

by Dina Donohue

Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child

Why Did God Send Jesus as a Child?

Jesus could have been revealed to mankind when he became an adult, but that is not what happened. Instead, this magnificent King of the World, came to us first as a child. A sweet, innocent, trusting child. That’s not what the people expected but it was what we all needed. We needed to first see his pure innocence. We needed to see someone we could easily adore. Without that sweet innocence, we would not be able to clearly see what a perfect sacrifice he came to be! Lucky for them, the shepherds that long ago night were able to Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child.

Jesus Wants us to See Through the Eyes of a Child

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.

Matthew 18:1-4

Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child

I too, celebrate Christmas through the eyes of a child.

Through Church Programs

My favorite place to celebrate Christmas through the eyes of a child is at our church programs.

Several years ago, my granddaughter was chosen to play Mary in the Sunday School Christmas program. Her favorite doll was used to portray the baby Jesus. Ever since then, that has been the permanent name of the doll. I asked her last week, while she was dressing Jesus, if she remembered being Mary in the play and she responded, “I was so scared!” What I remember is how excited she was. Weeks later, I talked to her on the phone from Florida and she said, “Grandma, I was baby Jesus’s mom!” She’d forgotten I was at the program but she sure hadn’t forgotten her role in it.

Other favorite memories include our annual candlelight service at church.

It gives me such a warm feeling seeing the sparkle in the eyes of the children as we circle our sanctuary and pass the light celebrating that Jesus is the light of the world.

Through Lighted Displays

Last Christmas I took my two youngest grandchildren to see the local town’s Christmas lights. Their favorite part was when they could get out of the car to see the lights up close.

Celebrating Christmas through their eyes was one of the highlights of the season for me. They got to stand in Santa’s workshop, explore all the lighted displays in Veteran’s Park and see the Nativity display sponsored by our church.

Through Opening Presents

Many people agonize about getting “just the right present.” They, and I, need to step back and celebrate Christmas gifts through the eyes of a child. They often aren’t as excited about what is wrapped as they are in being able to unwrap the surprise (and often playing in the box the gift was wrapped in). Two of my grandsons are pictured after opening a “special” gift–One, a box of band-aids and the other, new underwear. You might wonder if these pictures were staged. I assure you, they were not. They were just CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD.

I guess I’m just like my mother–I love Christmas and celebrating it through the eyes of my grandchildren.

Celebrate Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child

As a Child of God

I hope you also are Celebrating Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child. As a Child of God! With awesome wonder! With incredible joy! With great anticipation! With sincere gratitude!

I miss my mother at Christmas. But I’m grateful that she took me to all the church Christmas programs so I would understand what Christmas is really all about. We celebrate Christmas because we were given the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, our Savior.

For several years before Mother passed away, she suffered from Alzheimer’s. She reverted to being child-like. To the very end though, she always made me smile. I dedicate this post to her memory. She never lost sight of Celebrating Christmas Through the Eyes of a Child and now as a child of God, she is celebrating with Jesus in person! Praise be to God!!