One of the most exciting things about this weekend was the annual Christmas program at Holy Communion, “Look for the Light.” It has become such a joyous and memorable part of our life at Holy Communion, so it seems strange to remember when the matter was first discussed in worship and music about doing the program during Sunday morning, in place of normal Sunday worship. I happen to be a big fan of Advent and in a world where you hear Santa Claus is coming to town over the speakers at Walgreens well before Thanksgiving, this seemed more than a little heretical. It was Pastor Jeff who convinced me that this was worth doing, and I think he was trying to make me more open to the notion by calling it “a little glimpse of Bethlehem” before the fact, like a little teaser. Well, I’m not sure that something which includes Mary, Joseph, a manger, wise men, shepherds, angels, and the friendly beasts themselves can be called “a little glimpse of Bethlehem.” It’s more like a Cecil B. DeMille production of it.
But I have to say that whatever doubts I had about this were washed away a long time ago. Kate Barrow has put together something absolutely miraculous here, weaving together a variety of songs (most composed be me) with familiar carols and with beautifully crafted spoken word that is so focused on the Christ child and not pandering to the crowd with a lot of irrelevant humor or gimmicks. And Kate works so hard to include all of the kids of every age, and blending in the singing of the Senior Choir and some crackerjack instrumentalists. It’s truly incredible, and one walks away from it having laughed, cried, and worshipped in the truest sense of the word. And for all of the barely contained chaos that can ensue in an event like this, it’s remarkable how much first-rate music-making occurs. It’s especially fun to collaborate with Eric Carlson on his electronic keyboard, adding all kinds of cool colors to my piano – often without a note of music in front of him and responding to whatever I’m doing with almost flawless instincts. Fold in Ann LeMar Heide, one of the best violinists in the area, and Ed Bergles, one of the best trumpeters in the area, and some first – rate singers, and you’ve got the makings of something of quite uncommon excellence.
One thing which is so cool is that Kate, who grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota, wanted real animals in the program, and we’re not talking hamsters and goldfish either. This year we had a cow, a llama, several goats, a lamb, and a donkey. That last one gave us one of the best laughs of the whole morning. The entrance of the donkey is always an especially memorable moment – let down the aisle by Mary and Joseph while the kids sing a neat little song (not written by me) called “Shaggy Brown Donkey.” One always pictures it as a gentle and lovely moment, but the donkey often has other ideas . . and unless the kid playing Joseph is built like a linebacker (or the kid playing Mary, for that matter) it will usually be a very unequal struggle for supremacy. This year it was Jackson Barrow and Kayla Carlson who did what they could to get a very stubborn and reluctant donkey to come with them down the aisle, but for most of the journey it would be three steps forward followed by seven steps backward, which (if you do the math) would have eventually put Mary and Joseph and the donkey somewhere in downtown Racine rather than at the front of our sanctuary. It was such a struggle that we ended up repeating both verses of the song, including the part where we sing: “shaggy brown donkey, riding , riding, steadily you go and not complain.” I guess this year’s donkey didn’t get the memo. Eventually the Holy Family did make it to Bethlehem, and the donkey was actually pretty happy and docile once they got there. And at second service, the donkey sailed up the aisle like a hot knife through butter. I found out later that they let it by using a styrofoam cup with something very enticing in it- whatever it is that donkeys love, aside from ‘getting they’re own way’ which is their favorite thing of all.
The presence of the animals is a really neat thing for the kids, most of whom are city slickers like yours truly who are as likely to have petted a cow as they are to have petted a hippopotamus. And the older youth who are entrusted with the animals end up doing a wonderful job. I’m always especially impressed with a high schooler named Katie Wee (her dad is a valued singer in my senior choir) who took charge of the cow this year like she’d been an officer in the FFA. . . which means, by the way, Future Farmers of America. If Katie ever renounces her plans to become a teacher, she needs to think about cattle rustling as a career. I also have to put in a word for the llama which really added a lot to our peek at Bethlehem this year, despite the fact that I’m pretty sure they don’t have llamas there. (But I’m hardly an expert so don’t quote me.) There was something about this year’s llama that was especially amusing because it chose the best possible moments to suddenly raise it’s head and look out over the audience with that long neck and striking face. It seemed to do it just when a narrator would be reading words about “and suddenly there was the angels. . .” or “just like the wise men, we need to look for that light in our own world. . .” like it was some sort of living exclamation point.
But what mattered so much more than animals was the story being told – and told so beautifully by the young people of our church (joined by the senior choir.) And I have to give the credit to Kate for one especially important and impressive leap of imagination. The songs of mine that are in this program, like “Great and Glorious Light,” “Look for the Light,” “Jesus Light,” “I will give him as a Light,” and my arrangement of “Jesus the Light of the World” were all written for the senior choir or the Carthage Choir, and not for kids. I’ve written things for the kids but always for Easter or for Bible School- never anything for Christmas. It was Kate who realized that some of these songs were simple enough for our Sunday School children to sing and enjoy, but I’m sure that this would have never dawned on me. So my hat goes off to Kate for thinking of it and for countless hours of work to make this happen. She wanted the kids of Holy Communion to have a Christmas program experience that they would remember for the rest of their lives – just like she did in her wonderful country church in southern Minnesota – and thanks to her, they do.
pictured: Kathy, who leads the little kids during the program, took this picture from her vantage point at the very front of the sanctuary, looking towards the congregation. You can see the cow and donkey, with the aforementioned Katie Wee just to the left of the cow. Just beyond them you can glimpse Mary and Joseph. And beyond them is Kate Potter Barrow, the crazy lady who puts all of this together and makes it work.
I have other pictures of the Christmas program from this and from previous years on the page “Look for the Light,” in case you’re curious.