Memories of Christmas

I have many great memories of Christmas, but when you change the subject to "Christmas play" then one memory rises to the top. Of course, when I say "Christmas play," I mean Christmas pageant with kids dressed as shepherds and angels and hay flung all over the place.

Yes, how could anyone forget the Christmas pageant. When this is mentioned I have one basic dominating thought... and smell. Let me explain. When I was young I went to church now and then, especially when there was something going on for kids. As soon as you say Christmas play, the first thing that goes straight through my mind is a great big whiff of peanuts and oranges. Yes, peanuts and oranges. You must know what I'm talking about. If you had any connection to a church as a kid and went to, or were a part of, the Christmas production you probably have this memory. At the end of the night as we were leaving the church building our hands reached out for that free bag of candy, un-shelled peanuts and an orange just to keep it a bit healthy... I guess. That little brown bag was stuffed and I tore into as fast as I could. To me it seemed like it was the low budget free bag of candy, but it was free. And I don't even remember eating the orange, but it sure made it all smell good. Now, if I could walk out of a church around Christmas time and get a free bag of goodies I would want the low budget version because the memory is more valuable and enjoyable than anything we could stuff into a little brown bag today.

If you are looking for a Christmas play that is NOT a pageant, check out my Christmas Musical "The Richest Man in the Valley." It's more like a Broadway musical with a very relevant story people can relate to. I have a Christian Theater company. Check us out at www.lightsup.org.
You may also want to look at my new Easter Musical called "The Passion of the King." I'm currently working on a contemporary telling of "the prodigal son" story. It takes place in Las Vegas. It's entitled "The Lost Son." If you are interested in American History, Billy Sunday or revivalist take a look at "Sunday in Manhattan," the story of Billy Sunday.