A Pageant of New Life

To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."

- Colossians 1:27

Christmastime is here again and our Hand Bells Choir was ready to celebrate after a year of faithful practices and successful performances. And so we decorated our room with the life and colours of the season, while the tables were covered with homemade Christmas treats, sharing the taste, sights and sounds of Christmas. 

Lately, I've found myself growing nostalgic for the good old days of Christmas Pageants, and so I decided to draw on the talents and resourcefulness of our inclusive choir of mixed abilities, and stage my own makeshift pageant that evening. With crayon-coloured, cut-out paper Bible characters pasted on chopsticks, choir members chose their favourite character, and just like the very nature of our choir, no one was left out; "Who wants to play the starring role as the barnyard chicken? Oh, me, me...". 

When the stage was set and the curtain raised one of the choir members raised the applause sign and we all gave ourselves an enthusiastic opening round of applause. Another member raised her "ACT I" sign and I began narrating.  Awkwardly, but willingly, we stepped into the Story, which has given new meaning and life to all our unrehearsed stories. 

The members of our choir proudly held up their chopsticks, sometimes with an additional prompting or two; "And the Wise Men..." Our friend with the Wise Men chopstick stared vacantly at me. "Ahem...the Wise Men", the Wise Men suddenly popped up, "followed the star" and the wisemen bobbed up and down on chopstick after the elusive star. The Barnyard animals mooed and neighed and clucked and bayed, chasing shepherds while the choir of angels stood on high to sing the Hallelujah Chorus. 

I continued narrating among the ordered chaos, "And the world held its breath..." There at the centre of all the noisy action, a little, defenseless baby boy, vulnerably held high on a flimsy chopstick: Christ among us, "the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:2)

It was a fitting way to end the year with this welcoming choir who accepted and included me, simply for who I am, even after ringing the wrong bell (only to realize after the song) or pointing at the wrong note for other hand bell players who require pointing aids. God's love is stronger still, strong enough to carry us with our limitations, stronger even than the power of death. 

They accepted me even with my limitations and the disability of my heart, just as God has accepted us in Christ; they love because God loved us first; they included me because God has welcomed me and you and made us a welcoming people too - and together we made beautiful music for God. As I looked out over the floating chopstick bible characters animating the story and listened to the strangely harmonious chorus of our shared lives, I knew I had found a place of belonging in this community of hand bell players.    

With our final Act upon us, the pageant was coming to a close; "And they named him, 'Emmanuel', which means..." 

In front of me Mary stuck up her hand and blurted out, "Oh I know - God with us". 

"That's right" I nodded approvingly.

The living and loving God right here with us, here in the midst of simple, humble hearts, gathering together in the name of Jesus; Love incarnated in our human-all-too-human condition, with the promise of new life, the eternal life of God.