LIVING NATIVITY The ramshackle Victorian house was situated outside of town and by all appearances all her pride was long lost. Many of her windows were missing and in their place crumpled up faded newspapers were her only defense from the elements. Her front porch was warped from neglect and lack of paint and like Boo Radley’s scary house in To Kill A Mockingbird , it shouted STAY AWAY! As we meandered up the dirt road drive up to the house in the back seat of our Sunday school teacher’s station wagon on that cold December Day, he reminded us of why we were there. WE were there “to bring Christmas “ to those inside. The back of the station wagon was filled with carefully and colorfully wrapped packages and Piggly Wiggly bags filled with groceries collected from the congregation. A Cedar tree was tied to our vehicle’s roof and as the tree bounced up and down as we hit the washed out gully that was the drive up to the house ,“The Little Drummer Boy” kept rhythm on the radio. The boys in the front seat of the Station Wagon were soon to play shepherds in our church’s Living Nativity that coming Sabbath night. I had been chosen as one of the three Wisemen and “we three kings” found ourselves in the back seat with the only girl accompanying us on our mission of mercy. Appropriately, she had been chosen to be an angel and as her carefully rolled long blonde tresses framed her face it was obvious why. Reaching our destination as we got out of the station wagon while our teacher made his way up the front steps ,the angel in our midst made a pronouncement to the shepherds and we three kings, “Mom says this family are poor white trash.” Her snobby words lingered in the air as we made our way up the front steps. Our Sunday School teacher’s knock at the door echoed throughout the house as the the sound was overcome by the sudden rush of children's footsteps. As the door creaked open their unwashed but beaming faces welcomed us in. The smell in the house was the same barnyard smell that permeated the air when the station wagon doors had been flung open. Out of the group of five children, a little girl’s voice was heard to say, “Daddy's outback feeding the goats. and the donkey and Mama said to come on in because Santa Clause is coming tonight.” Bearing the tree, as we made our way to the back of the house, the dimly lit hallway echoed with a baby’s cry. Entering the room where the fireplace humbly offered the only heat in the house, the baby lay wrapped in a tattered blanket in his mother’s lap. She smiled at us as our Sunday school teacher introduced each one of us and asked where we could situate the Christmas Tree. While we placed it in the opposite corner from where she sat cradling the baby, the five children watched in wonder as we began to attach the multicolored lights to the trees branches. “We never had a Christmas Tree before ,” the little girl who had greeted us upon our arrival confessed. As the angel unpacked the ornaments, the shepherds and wisemen assisted the five children in placing them on tree. Finally it was time to crown the tree with its star and we all watched as little Billy the youngest of the five stood on the shoulders of one of the wisemen and placed the star at its pinnacle and as one of the shepherds plugged in the lights. The tree worked its magic as a hush fell across that room and the only sound heard was the happy sounds of the baby still wrapped up in his mother’s arms. “ Why does that tree have a star on top of it ?” little Charlie asked. And for the first time the mother who had sat quietly with baby in arms spoke up and said “ Cause Charlie that star was how everybody knew where to find the Baby Jesus.” And her words had barely been spoken before little Charlie chimed in “So the baby Jesus got here tonight before Santie Claus did.” And his mother looking at we three kings, the shepherds, and the angel with blonde hair and back at her 5 little ones and the baby in her lap all gazing up at that star replied “ Oh yes he did Charlie….yes he did.” Our Sunday School Teacher who had disappeared briefly suddenly appeared and before he could say a word without hesitation, our friend the angel whose harsh and judgmental words had by now turned to tears began singing as we all began to one by one join her, “Silent Night Holy, Holy night all is calm all is bright, Round young virgin mother and child, Holy infant so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace , Sleep in heavenly peace….” The house echoed with the carol’s words as our Sunday school teacher who was now joined by the Daddy entered the song filled room. They had secretly unloaded the gifts and groceries at the front of the house. The Daddy, his hands smelling of his goats approached each one of us. He humbly grips the hands of the wisemen, shepherds and the angel and thanked us for coming. And the angel without hesitation enthusiastically said,” Oh no sir. Thank you sir, Thank you.” The children followed us to the door and told us to come back soon. As our station wagon wound its way down that dirt driveway that December night, one bright Star looming through the vehicle’s windshield seemed to light the way for we three kings, the shepherds, the angel and our Sunday School Teacher. And as we made our way home that chilly December night, in the silence and the holy hush there was not a doubt in any of our minds as to who had brought Christmas to whom.

ALL EASTERED UP!

ALL EASTERED UP! Getting all EASTERED UP use to mean that every lady had to have the perfect hat and real men could wear pink. The Easter Parade still takes place on Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Starting as a spontaneous event in the 1870’s, the parade grew to such popularity that in 1947 over a million processed up the avenue. While the stroll may not have all the panache it had when Fred Astaire and Judy Garland made the avenue their runway in the Irving Berlin film musical EASTER PARADE, it annually draws a crowd and the strollers still make their bold fashion statements and the more colorful the better. Do they realize they are actually participating in a ritual that dates back to the Roman Emperor Constantine who in the 4th century instructed the empire’s citizenry to wear their finest and parade in honor of Jesus’ resurrection? We read in the Gospel of Luke of another Easter parade. The women who had attended to Jesus’ burial go to the tomb on a mission of mercy. They know they can not change the dark shadow cast by Good Friday but the went there carrying with them spices to preserve his body . And so their procession that first Easter morning was less than festive. In their state of mourning, the women’s clothing blended with the shadows cast amongst the tombs. There were no spectators for this sad little parade. No gawkers. The women make their way determined, yet weighed down with grief. And what do they find? A stone cold sepulcher greeted them with the shock of emptiness. Robbed of the beloved’s body, it must have echoed their cries. Turning away from its emptiness, only to be greeted by two men in “gleaming bright clothing” , the mourners we are told “didn’t know what to make of this”. If their garb wasn’t startling enough, the men dare to ask the real question of the day, “Why seek you the living among the dead?” Obviously these two would have flunked out as grief counsellors ,but their question does give pause to Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James and the other women as it should us. That dark day that was Calvary had so overwhelmed them they had forgotten what he had said when he said ,” I must be handed over to sinners, be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Even then hearing him say “I must be crucified” would have been all they heard him say. Stunned as they are, we are told “they remembered his words.” While they nor anyone else witnessed Jesus being resurrected what they did see changed their lives forever. They looked away from a grave no longer seeking the living among the dead and faced a day like no other . A new day in a new world. And what a different parade it was as they returned from the tomb. All EASTERED UP, they make their way radiant with good news. Their faces had to tell the story as they reached the disciples. But they encounter resistance and doubting disciples do all they can to rain on the Easter parade. And they still do. Luke tells us they think the women’s words “nonsense.” Yes, the women might have asked of themselves, “why seek we the living among the dead?” The disciples desperately needed to get all EASTERED UP. And so de we. Even as we have been reminded this Holy Week, suffering and the unfathomable deaths of innocents are never far from us these days. All the more we need to get all EASTERED UP and join the throng to announce that death is the real loser, as are those who seek to thrive by inflicting it. SO get out your feathers, your beads, your buckles and bows. Get all Eastered up and if someone tries to run you out of town for doing so, get out in front and make it a parade.