Yesterday was the Sunday for the Children’s and Youth Pageant at our church. There were more than 30 participants in the pageant who ranged in age from 3 months old (the baby Jesus was a live baby, little Jennica, who was born in September) to 17 years old. To say it was like herding cats would be a gross understatement! As the rehearsal was happening on Sunday morning before the service, it was utter chaos for the first 15 minutes as kids were arriving in costumes and sharing costumes and changing costumes and not arriving and, in some cases, literally bouncing off the walls! There was music that went with the pageant and it was the first time the Jazz trio was rehearsing with the kids and the kids were forgetting the words and then someone remembered the huge poster board with the words and so a parent volunteered to hold up the “cue cards” and the rehearsal continued. The sound was not quite right and microphones were adjusted and it was time for the big event.
Anyone looking at the chaotic scene before church would have certainly questioned the sanity of the one whose bright idea it was to try to pull something so ambitious off in the midst of the busiest season of the year. Anyone looking at the chaotic scene before church would have questioned how it could be good for kids to have to learn lines and learn songs and learn where to stand or sit and get dressed up in costume and have to sit still and focus and listen to others when they are already wired to the hilt. Anyone trying to park within a half a mile of the church was most certainly questioning the benefit of trying to do something that involved so many at a time that is so busy.
Why do a pageant in the midst of this time of year? If you had been there yesterday morning you would understand why. Out of the chaos something magical happens. One might even say out of the chaos one sees the miraculous. Maybe the word miraculous should be saved for cancer that suddenly disappears or someone saving another person’s life or a story of giving that is beyond our comprehension. But on pageant Sunday, somehow miraculous is the word that comes to mind. Five little star babies dressed in pink ballerina outfits squirm on the steps and then come to attention when it’s time to sing and they open their mouths wide (even while making faces) and sing the most beautiful sound. Joseph sits down next to Mary and sighs the biggest sigh and leans over and puts his elbow on his knee and looks completely perplexed (probably because he is trying to figure out how long he has to sit there!). The narrators look and sound as if they are 20 instead of 13 and 15. The stars are transformed from 9 and 10 year olds into miniature adults who know how to project and act. The paparazzi belt out their lines and go from being shy boys to leaders. The bodyguards are just plain cool. The shepherds look as though they really are surprised and their faces convince everyone of their openness. And when they all open their mouths at the same time to sing their songs it really does sound as if there are angels in our midst. Even the star babies who are singing “expelsous” instead of “excelsios” sound perfect.
Every person sitting in the congregation is yanked out of their own chaos just for a few minutes and reminded of the miraculous. No wonder we do pageants at this crazy time of year.