Hanging of the Greens
This evening of the first Sunday in Advent is always one of my favorite times. The church, in the space of thirty minutes, decorates the entire Worship Center for the Christmas season. Everyone attending helps to put up banners, bows, garlands, wreaths, lights, artificial poinsettas, tree ornaments and a nativity scene on the communion table while singing Christmas carols and listening to special music from the choir. At the end we turn off all the lights and sing Silent Night. After that we eat the brownies, cookies and other goodies out on the church lanai.
Tonight, possibly due to the heavy rain, only one child from our preschool showed up to sing their special song. So....all the preschool teachers came up and sang the children's song with her so she could sing along, too! The teachers sang and did the hand motions very well. The little girl did what preschool children always do when they "perform:" She smiled and waved at her parents the entire time. It was perfect!
The church children decorated the tree, of course. For the 1-year olds it was their first Christmas. They toddled about during the whole service, touching and exploring everything they could reach. The wonder in their eyes and the tipsy wobbling of their uncertain footsteps captured the essence of the Christmas story for me. They reminded me that Jesus came into the world as a baby just like them and, as he grew, the Savior of the world toddled along with the other children, wide-eyed with wonder at the world he had once created.
It's funny how we all change as we grow older. When I was younger, if a baby cried during worship I'd go nuts. The noise would distract me from the business of worship and I'd be bothered by it all. Now, however, ever since I have had children of my own (and the youngest is now half-way through her teenage years) I am no longer bothered by the cry of a baby. I cannot even imagine how boring worship would be without them. How dull are the churches that have no children or babies in worship! If the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has anything at all to do with life, then it must have a great deal to do with babies. Surely, they are more closely formed in the image of their Creator than we are as adults!
Even so, I am glad when a parent eventually takes their complaining child outside and gives them a less public place to finish their crying. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." He didn't say they could stay all day!
Tonight, possibly due to the heavy rain, only one child from our preschool showed up to sing their special song. So....all the preschool teachers came up and sang the children's song with her so she could sing along, too! The teachers sang and did the hand motions very well. The little girl did what preschool children always do when they "perform:" She smiled and waved at her parents the entire time. It was perfect!
The church children decorated the tree, of course. For the 1-year olds it was their first Christmas. They toddled about during the whole service, touching and exploring everything they could reach. The wonder in their eyes and the tipsy wobbling of their uncertain footsteps captured the essence of the Christmas story for me. They reminded me that Jesus came into the world as a baby just like them and, as he grew, the Savior of the world toddled along with the other children, wide-eyed with wonder at the world he had once created.
It's funny how we all change as we grow older. When I was younger, if a baby cried during worship I'd go nuts. The noise would distract me from the business of worship and I'd be bothered by it all. Now, however, ever since I have had children of my own (and the youngest is now half-way through her teenage years) I am no longer bothered by the cry of a baby. I cannot even imagine how boring worship would be without them. How dull are the churches that have no children or babies in worship! If the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has anything at all to do with life, then it must have a great deal to do with babies. Surely, they are more closely formed in the image of their Creator than we are as adults!
Even so, I am glad when a parent eventually takes their complaining child outside and gives them a less public place to finish their crying. Jesus said, "Let the children come to me." He didn't say they could stay all day!
posted by Bird of Paradise at 9:07 PM
<< Home