Remembering Christmas

[Setting: Two comfortable chairs with a table and lamp between them and perhaps a cup of coffee on the table. A woman sits in one of the chairs.]

UMH = The United Methodist Hymnal
TFWS = The Faith We Sing

Opening Song: "Emanuel"
Hymn: "Emmanuel, Emmanuel," 204, UMH

Dad [coming in]: Mind if I join you for a few minutes of quiet time?

Mom: Sure, honey. Better grab it while you can. [pause] It will be good to have the family home, don't you think?

Dad: Yep. It's always good to have everybody back under one roof. You outdid yourself again … bet you're tired.

Mom: Yeah, but it's a good tired. If I didn't tell you before, thanks for putting up the nativity scene for me. It looks really good.

Dad: Oh, it wasn't any trouble. We still make a pretty good team, don't we? How long have we had that nativity scene, anyway?

Mom: How long have we been married?!

Dad: That long?! It's looking pretty beat up.

Mom: Bite your tongue. I think it looks perfect. [pause] Can you imagine what it must have been like 2000 years ago?

Dad: What? [connecting the dots] Oh … you mean Mary and Joseph: probably pretty rough. I guess we can relate to that a little, huh?

Mom: I wonder how many miles they had to travel. You know, if you had told me I would have to take a ride to sign some census thing when I was nine months pregnant, I would have probably conked you over the head.

Dad: But it would have been in a car…

Mom: Yeah… guess it was better than what they had back then. A donkey… can you imagine? Nine months pregnant, due any time. Wonder if Joseph was as squeamish as you were when it came to the labor and delivery part. [pause, looking at spouse's forehead] You know, I think your scar has just about faded away….

Dad [playfully indignant]: Ha! Ha! Very funny. I just lay down to rest a minute…that was hard work.

Mom: [chuckling] Yeah, you lay down alright. I thought that nurse was going to just roll you right out of there, but she was laughing so hard she couldn't seem to do anything.

Dad: Hmph!

Mom: Ah… but you were sweet on the way to the hospital. One minute you were telling me to breathe, and the next you were telling me to hang on… just a little farther…

Song: "Not That Far from Bethlehem"
Hymn: "De Tierra Lejana Venimos" ("From a Distant Home"), 243, UMH
Hymn: "Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine," 2099, TFWS

Dad: You know, I don't know if I ever told you I just about passed out when you told me you were pregnant. Lord, I was scared!

Mom: Really? I never knew. I just knew I was scared to death to tell you. We were barely making ends meet, and to suddenly find out our family was going to grow….

Dad: No kidding?! You looked so calm…I never knew you were scared. Mm…Wonder if Mary and Joseph felt the same way. You know that took a lot of faith on both of their parts. An angel telling Mary she was going to have a child who would be king and one telling Joseph that Mary would have a child that would save the world. What do you think you would have done had an angel showed up to chat? [speculative] You have to admit…that probably seemed pretty strange to Joseph at the time: Mary having a baby that would save the world!? He was probably wondering how in the world he was going to explain everything to everyone…

Song: "Strange Way to Save the World"
Hymn: "Blessed Be the God of Israel," 209, UMH
Hymn: "Niño Lindo" ("Child So Lovely"), 222, UMH
Hymn: "Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light,"223, UMH
Hymn: "O Little Town of Bethlehem," 230, UMH

Mom: Oh I don't know, I don't think it's such a strange thing to wonder about. My parents probably thought it was pretty strange that I fell in love with you. We knew each other such a short time before marrying. I know my parents wondered what in the world I saw in you.

Dad [grinning]: My good looks, of course!!!

Mom [laughing]: Of course! [pause]

Dad: You know, I might have had second thoughts about marrying you if I had met all of your family before the wedding.

Mom: You know you grew to love Aunt Lizzie.

Dad: Did I say anything?!

Mom: Been married to you tooooo long, I know exactly what you were thinking. She meant well….

Dad: Yeah… I did grow to love her, but she couldn't keep a secret if her life depended on it. [somewhat exasperated] I mean, did you have to tell her first about being pregnant?! The whole town knew before I even had a chance to tell my parents…I can just hear her now, [mimicking a lady's voice] …Have you heard the news? Mary's pregnant….it's going to be a boy. I can tell by the way she's carrying it…hey, do you know what I know?…

Song: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Hymn: "Go, Tell It On the Mountain," 251, UMH
Hymn: "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy," 2098, TFWS

Mom [lovingly]: Ah… she was just excited for us. We sure had a lot of visitors when we had our oldest, didn't we? All of them bringing gifts… First it was family, then all the ranch hands.

Dad: Well, we did live in the middle of the farms and ranches, you know. And our first was a Christmas baby.

Mom: I know that, silly! It's a wonder they got there the way they talked…one minute they were talking about a bright light…

Dad: I think that was the hospital sign, hon.…

Mom [going on as if nothing was said]: and the next about how they had to stop and ask that old man for directions.

Song: "New Kid in Town" or "The Christmas Star"
Hymn: "In the Bleak Midwinter" 221, UMH
Hymn: "O Come, All Ye Faithful" 234, UMH
Hymn: "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright," 247, UMH
Hymn: "Star-Child," 2095, TFWS

Mom: Hey, do you remember those three older gentlemen who came? They were something, weren't they? Very proper.

Dad: What were there names? Bugs me to death…I can't remember now. I do remember they were considered the town leaders, even if they didn't exactly have a title to their names. Didn't they bring some gifts?

Mom Oh yeah… [musing] let's see if I can remember what they brought….let's see, one had lotion.

Dad: Yeah, and one had a scented candle.

Mom and Dad [together]: And the other gave us money.

Mom: That money sure came in handy when we had to move a few months later.

Song: "Welcome to our World"
Hymn: "We Three Kings," 254, UMH

Dad: We've been blessed these many years. Our boys have grown up to be fine men: one's a preacher and one's a teacher and…. Hey…I'm a poet and didn't know it…

Mom: [rolling her eyes] Yes, dear. We all know how smart you are. [chuckles] But, I will say this: you are right about our blessings and our boys. We've been blessed to have such fine boys. The good Lord sure has been looking out for us all these years.

Dad: Amen to that! Hey, is that a car I hear?! Sounds like Jay and his family are here.

[Both stand up and look out. Dad puts arm around Mom.]

Mom: No, I think that's James…no, wait. Oh, Joe, look: I think it's all of them… Peter, John…

Dad: Just in time for Christmas!

Closing Song: "Christmastime"
Hymn: "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," 240, UMH
Hymn: "Joy to the World," 246, UMH
Hymn: "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne," 2100, TFWS

Copyright © 2006 Sandy Bracken. Published by Discipleship Ministries, PO Box 340003, Nashville TN 37203-0003. Telephone 615-340-7070. Web site: www.umcworship.org. Used by permission.

This story may be reproduced and used in congregational worship and music ministry with the inclusion of the complete copyright citation on each copy. It may not be used for profit, sold, republished, or placed on a website.

The author may be contacted by e-mail at [email protected]

Song Credits

"Emmanuel"
Composer/Creator: Michael W. Smith
Title Code: 350138657
Publishers/Administrators:
Meadowgreen Music Company
c/o Birdwing Music
ATTN: EMI Christian Music Group
101 WInners Circle
Brentwood TN, 37027
Tel: 615-371-6800

"Not That Far from Bethlehem"
Composer/Creator: Lowell Talmadge Alexander, Jr. ,
Gayla Hester Border, and Jeff A. Borders
Title Code: 440295281
Publishers/Administrators: SONY/ATV Milene Music ATTN: Administration 8 Music Square West
Nashville, TN, 37203
Tel: 615-743-1779

"A Strange Way to Save the World"
Composer/Creators: David Allen Clark, Mark Harris, and Don Koch
Title Code: 311838830
Publishers/Administrators:
A-Knack-For-This Music
ICG Alliance Music
PO Box 24149
Nashville, TN 37202
Tel: 615-329-3999

New Spring Publishing
c/o BMG Music Publishing
ATTN: Director of Royalties
8750 Wilshire Blvd.
Beverly Hills , CA, 90211
Tel: 310-358-4700

"Do You Hear What I Hear?"
Composer/Creator: Noel Regney and Gloria Shayne
Title Code: 340095589
Publishers/Administrators:
Jewel Music Publishing Co Inc
630 9th Avenue
Suite 1004
NEW YORK , NY, 10036 Tel. (212) 246-3333

"There's a New Kid in Town"
Composer/Creator: Curly Putman, Don Cook and Keith Whitley
425389934
Publishers/Administrators:
Sony/ATV Milene Music
Attn: Administration 8 Music Square West
Nashville, TN 37203
Tel: 615-743-1779

"The Christmas Star"
Composers/Creators: Kevin Stuart James Savigar and Kimmie Rhodes
CAE/IPI#: 331022825
Publishers/Administrators:
Almo Music Corp
Rondor Music International Inc
2440 Sepulveda Blvd #119
Los Angeles, CA 90064
Tel: (310-235-4800

Kevin Savigar Music
Attn: Kevin Savigar
c/o Ed Borine Fin Mgmt
3435 Ocean Park Blvd.
Suite 109
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Tel: 310-396-2598

"Welcome to Our World"
Composer/Creator: Christopher M. Rice
Title Code: 530450727
Publishers/Administrators:
Clumsy Fly Music
Rocketown Music
c/o Rocketown Records Llc
2035 Mallory Lane
Franklin, TN 37067 Tel. (615) 503-9994

"Christmastime"
Composer/Creator: Michael Whitaker Smith and JoAnna Carlson
Title Code: 330627504
Publishers/Administrators:
Deer Valley Music Llc
c/o Sony/Atv Milene Music
c/o Sony/Atv Tunes Llc
8 Music Square West
Nashville, TN 37203
Tel: 615-726-8300

Sony/ATV Milene Music
Attn: Administration
8 Music Square West
Nashville, TN 37203
Tel: 615-743-1779