Christmas in the Real II

Further to my earlier post today, I have an additional perspective.

It was my great joy to witness the Early Years Nativity, and this closely on the heels of the Key Stage II carol service last night. The presentation today was raw, about the potential in small children who stepped up the mark, with varying degrees of ability and success. They were surrounded by loving families who willed them on to success, and in the end, all of the little ones were. 

The Christmas story is, after all, a tale of a child, his family and their hopes and fears. It is a story about raw hope to be found in a young life yet to be lived. It is about parents who guide and inspire, but in the end, are passengers on the journey that their child has embarked upon. It is about mistakes and best efforts, about unknowing and blindness to futures - about wondering. It is a story of a child who will make the best of his chance in whatever that direction will take him, who will get it wrong, who will get it right, will do it with eyes open and heart open. It is a story about a child who will give without counting the cost, and of parents who could  not find it possible to love more than they already do.

To me, all of these qualities are embedded in the very presentations that happened before me today. Every facet of the Christmas Story so far as the 'human' is concerned, is a present reality in the eyes and efforts of little children and their pride and joy. No Christmas can ever be complete until it has been seen through the eyes of little children.