We went to the garden centre for lunch today after church. This is a usual occurrence on a Sunday. Church, lunch out and the visit my mother in law (who is in a nursing home a few miles away).
Today when we walked around the garden centre towards the restaurant the Christmas music was playing pleasantly in the background making me want to sing along. Christmas is my favourite time of year but this year will be the first time for many years that I haven't been part of a school Christmas. Working with the younger pupils I usually organised that nativity part of the school play. It never failed to make me feel misty and bring a lump to my throat. The children dressed as angels, animals, shepherds and kings, with Mary, Joseph and the little doll wrapped up and put into the toy manger.
What is so unusual with this? Almost every nursery in the country does a nativity, don't they?
The big difference is that the children that I worked with all had special needs, and to see them in their wheelchairs, or 'signing' the songs because they couldn't speak or sing, or joining their little friends on stage in front of an audience despite being autistic and finding this situation really scary made our play different. In fact, the play was wonderful on lots of levels, especially as every child in the school took part whatever their ability or disability. We took pains to make sure that Jesus was truly a part of our Christmas in a world that often forgets this fact. Christmas is not about buying expensive toys or gifts, but remembering that tiny child that came to set us free.
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