And Lo, the Star Went
Before Them – Part 2
In another part of the yard, a group of little angels
dressed in white sheets with glittered wings and tin foil halos, stood elevated
on a table that had been draped with a white table cloth. These were the
Heavenly Hosts standing on clouds singing to the shepherds. However, owing to the fact that the Heavenly
Hosts were actually little elementary age girls who did not have microphones,
their song was very difficult to hear. As they sang, the little shepherds
alternated between chasing lost sheep and shouting to the angels in a loud
stage whisper, “Louder! Louder!”
But the show must go on, and our play was no exception. Soon it was time for the Wisemen to make
their entrance. My brother and his
cohorts began their trek from the corner of Francis Jones Guest House to the
stable following the lighted star and singing as they went. “We three kings of
Orient are… bearing gifts; we traverse afar. Field and fountain, moor and
mountain, following yonder star. O star of wonder, star of night star with
royal beauty bright…”
But midway to the stable, catastrophe struck! The rope broke and the “star of wonder, star
of night” went crashing to the ground!
Undeterred, the Wisemen continued on their journey to the stable; each
stepping over the fallen star as they came upon it on the ground, still singing
its praises and looking upward as if it was still in front of them.
What a funny Christmas pageant! That year the errant sheep were not needed
for comic relief! They were nothing compared with the star! After the play was
over, the mission family who had gathered on that warm, clear, African night
shared refreshments, gifts, and laughs. And to this day, I never think of the
Christmas story without giggling a little as my heart remembers, with fondness,
that pageant and the ill-fated star.
