By Children, Youth, & Family Minister Jean Hansen
As I was listening to the Advent story in Godly Play today, I thought to myself, “this is my favorite Godly Play story!” I say this about every story, really. I love the process of Godly Play, and what I learn from the children. The children know so much about the mystery; they are so serious and so close to God.
There’s so much to look forward to in the Advent story. There is so much anticipation during this season. Sometimes I run right through Advent without even recognizing it. The children reminded me that I need to be ready for Christmas—not the commercialism of Christmas, but the mystery of Christmas.
At this time of year we also begin preparing for the Christmas pageant. This beautiful retelling of how God came to be human and live among us, is told by our children every year at St. John’s. It’s such an important story, and children are the best ones to tell it. They are adorable, funny, and excited about the whole thing. And they are so ready to enter the mystery. Our children get to carry this important message of hope to all of us again. They get to tell the story of Christ’s birth, of God’s incarnate love. I believe this is something that most of us at St. John’s look forward to. We love to see our children perform in all of their cuteness.
But is “cute” what we’re trying to do? I’m not sure the children want to be thought of as cute. That doesn’t makes much sense for a faith community whose children are participating in one of the most mind-blowing mysteries of the entire Christian tradition. This is serious and important work.
Don’t get me wrong—I think they are cute, too. But the work they are doing is so much more than that. When we think of them as merely cute, we’re limiting them and we’re limiting what they are doing. They are telling one of the most important stories in the New Testament, and all along they are reminding us of how to stop and get ready for the mystery of Christmas.
Originally published in the January-February 2017 Evangelist.
