String up your lights and crank up those carols because, ladies and gentlemen, it is officially the Christmas season — and they can no longer judge you for celebrating before Thanksgiving.
My family and I kicked off the holidays at the movies this year with The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Based on Barbara Robinson’s 1972 book, the movie follows a small town’s efforts to put on their annual Christmas pageant. This year, the normally dignified retelling of Jesus’ birth is overtaken by the Herdmans — “absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.”
The unruly Herdmans enter the pageant seeking snacks and end up playing Mary, Joseph, the angel Gabriel and the wisemen three. The only problem? They don’t know the Christmas story.
As I ease into the holiday spirit, I’ve come back to this idea frequently. I’m endlessly grateful that I grew up in a Christian family, but that also means I’m prone to take the Christmas story for granted. I’ve heard it so many times that my brain registers it as routine and sometimes, if I’m honest, uninteresting.
Through the eyes of the Herdmans, I caught a brief glimpse of what it would have been like to know nothing of Jesus only to be thrust into the strange and wonderful story of his arrival on Earth.
For the first time in a long time, I was reminded how strange it is that God became incarnate in a barn. I wondered what I would have done if an angel had broken into my room and told me I was pregnant. I subsequently contemplated whether I would have allowed strangers into my stable to look at my newborn.
In a perfect world, Christians would marvel at the Christmas story the way children marvel at presents on Christmas morning. I’m grateful to The Best Christmas Pageant Ever for restoring some of that magic to my Christmas season.
Interested in taking your family? Read Plugged In’s review of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever here.
