Christmas Pageant Remembrances
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I have fond memories of growing up in the Unitarian Universalist church in Plymouth, MA. We were always busy in the church school, making time machines and creating a compost in the back of the church school yard. But the busiest time was December, as we got ready for the annual Christmas pageant. I think I must have held almost every part in the pageant over the years, although I was always disappointed that I never got to be the little drummer girl! It was exciting to work my way up in the cast as I went from being an angel to one of the wise men and eventually to Joseph (we were short on boys!). I remember rummaging through the props, trying to figure out what myrrh might look like (I still don't know!) and finding a tea towel that I could put on my head to transform myself into a shepherd.
In college I had no interest in being part of any pageant, but I looked forward each year to watching my cousins as they made their way through the same cast at their church in Connecticut. My little cousin Logan was the most adorable sheep I have ever seen! Things got pretty exciting one year when one of the angels caught on fire and was stripped of her costume onstage. I heard my teenage boy cousins, who had been dragged to the service, exclaim that this was "the best Christmas pageant ever."
I am looking forward to the holidays here in Wellesley Hills, and to seeing your children take their places in the Christmas Tableau on Christmas Eve. There is something magical about a tradition so timeless. I hope you will be able to join us so that your children too can have these memories. And I promise that I won't let any of them catch on fire!