Tonight was the FarmHand's school Christmas program. I have mentioned once or twice already that this year the program was taking on a more (I hate to use this word) religious tone. I was thrilled to find out they were singing Silent Night & O, Come all Ye Faithful. I was even more surprised when the program it's self (they do a short play every year) wasn't centered around Santa & Elves & such. It was about a boy from the city coming to spend Christmas with his family in the country.
The play focused on the importance of family and friends during the holidays & talked about welcoming people in to your home remembering that Mary & Joseph had no where to go on Christmas. The play also stated that Jesus was the greatest gift of all (not in those exact terms, but the meaning was VERY obvious).
I really don't have a problem with North Pole Christmas plays at school. I think they're cute, and fun, & the kids love them. But it was so refreshing to see Christ represented (even if not directly) in a public school program.
Now I have never said more than a few words to the music teacher at the school, but tonight I wanted to let him know how much it meant to me that they presented something other than the traditional Santa & the reindeer. If I were to say it took me out of my comfort zone to speak to him about this, it may be the understatement of the year. I had considered writing a letter of thanks to the school (I may yet do that), but I really felt like I should thank Mr.M personally.
I told him how much I appreciated it & that I had told my kids how fortunate they are to be able to do that at school. I thanked him & we headed out. Now my prayer is that he gets nothing but positive feed back for the step he took. We live in a small, rural community in the Bible Belt. I know that's why this was possible at all & I'm very thankful for it.
2 comments:
I think you did the right thing.At our school we have 3 plays for the 3 different ages groups. The Nativity for the little ones, a Christmassy tale based on the Nativity for the slightly older and a not very Christmassy one at all for the oldest. I LOVE the first 2, but not the third one so much.There is something very special about seeing the children re-enact the Christmas story in a way that has relevance to their/ our own lives.Always gives me a warm fuzzy feeling anyway. S xx
That is so great! Every one is so careful to be avoid anything that may offend someone. It is refreshing that the school decided to give the children a sample of the Truth.
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