Parchment Paths

I love Christmas and no matter how weary I get with working in retail during the holiday, I'm always a little sad when it's over. There is so much time and energy spent on the day and then it races past like a locomotive. The good thing is, it will come back, a whole year, but it will return.  Still, I miss it, maybe that;s why I don't mind when friends and I exchange gifts late, or Dad and I wait a bit to take down the tree. I like to make it last, to enjoy it to the last possible second before saying goodbye.

Well, my church's play "Light of the World" opened and closed already. It went very, very well, thanks to everyone who acted, painted sets, ran the lights, and of course to our writer and director, and to our wonderful audience! I hope it brightened everyone's Christmastime, I know it did mine. True, it made things a bit hectic for me, but it was completely worth it. After church today, we cleared away all of the props and costumes. It was a bit sad, yes, I don't have to rush straight from church to work anymore, but I enjoyed it, not just the acting, but getting to know people in my church better, which is part of Christmas, being with people and helping them enjoy the holiday even more. 

I attended my six year old nephew's school holiday concert. It was the first school even I've been to since I saw my best friend in seventh grade perform with her orchestra for her middle school.  I'd forgotten how cute they can be! They sang songs about polka dancing penguins, read poems about decorating Christmas trees and finished with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  With everything that distracts us adults at Christmas, it's nice to remember that it all began with a Child, and the giving of toys, and the singing of songs, and even Santa, all point back to the real meaning of the holiday,  the Christ Child's love for all humanity. 

On Saturday, December 21st, at 7:00pm High Point Baptist Church in Larksville, invites you to step back in time to 1940’s Holland to see how two different families celebrate both Christmas and Hanukah during the German occupation of World War Two.   Written and directed by church member and drama team member since 2006, Aimee Novak , the one act play entitled, "Light of the World "    displays how the two families, one Christina and the other Jewish react to the increasingly difficult times in which they live. When asked how she chose the time period of the play, she explained that has been inspired by the book, "Diary of Anne Frank" ever since her mother gave it to her as a child. “It really struck me in a very personal way.  At the time I first read it, Anne was just a little older than I was, and she and her family had endured so much.” Novak also incorporated the theme of friends willing to endanger themselves for the sake of others into her play. “

I know the Christmas spirit has hit when I take out my Santa hat to wear at work. Little kids at the store always seem to get so excited when they see me in the hat, they smile, laugh, and tug on their parent's sleeves.  I've never really got that to be honest, especially when some kids call me "Santa". I look nothing like Santa, save for the hat. Then today it hit me, maybe their not that confused as to think a short woman is the jolly , chubby man, maybe it's the symbol they recognize, the symbol of charity, love, and generosity that most of us adult forget in the midst of Black Friday lines and T.V.adds. Maybe, as the old cartoon says, "Christmas doesn't come in a store, maybe, just maybe, it's a little bit more."