Here follows one of my all-time favorite – and true – Christmas stories:
A few years back, Margaret and I were co-pastors of Burnside UMC in East Hartford, Connecticut. It was Advent, the Sunday on which worship included the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant. The kids – our two included – were very excited and particularly because we were taking the pageant on the road to a local nursing home that afternoon, to be followed with ice cream sundaes at Friendly’s.
The pageant was a triumph at both church and nursing home – and over their ice cream, the children chattered about how great it had been. Said one little girl with absolute sincerity:
“It was neat. The old people really liked it. And we only made that one mistake when the Wise Men came in before Jesus was born – but that was OK because the old people had never heard the story before.”
A few years back, Margaret and I were co-pastors of Burnside UMC in East Hartford, Connecticut. It was Advent, the Sunday on which worship included the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant. The kids – our two included – were very excited and particularly because we were taking the pageant on the road to a local nursing home that afternoon, to be followed with ice cream sundaes at Friendly’s.
The pageant was a triumph at both church and nursing home – and over their ice cream, the children chattered about how great it had been. Said one little girl with absolute sincerity:
“It was neat. The old people really liked it. And we only made that one mistake when the Wise Men came in before Jesus was born – but that was OK because the old people had never heard the story before.”