Hello!
Happy almost Friday. I thought of splitting this story into three days since it is 3k words long, but since I never could remember to get it posted until now, I decided to just let you read the full thing. This was the story I wrote for our church's Christmas play this year. And yes, I wrote myself into it. :) I am the first Mary Lou Reeder. The one who tells the story. I'm not sure you really want to see a picture of me in my costume. . . .
Anyway, I hope you are all staying warm. Today's high (early this morning) was 17º F and it
dropped to 5º F by noon. And the wind chill here was -21ºF. Now it's -4º
and they say the windchill tonight could be -24º. Brrr! And yes, we got
snow. Cold, powdery snow that blows across the roads, and swirls around
and drifts and shifts. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 12º F. It
would be a heat wave if the windchill wasn't expected to be -22º. And since it's not expected to reach above freezing until after Christmas Day, we could have a white Christmas this year. That would be different!
Well, I hope you enjoy the story. And Merry Christmas!
Christmas isn’t Fair
“Helen, I’m so glad you could
finally come over! We’ve been so busy with Christmas plans for school and
church that we haven’t gotten to visit for quite some time.” The two friends
were sitting in Mary’s living room one December afternoon.
“I know. It has been a while. Thanks
for having me over, Mary Lou. I was just admiring all the Christmas trees you
have in your house and that giant pine out in your yard,” and Helen pointed to
the large window where the tall and stately evergreen grew.
“I love that tree,” Mary Lou Reeder
sighed. “It always reminds me of the year I learned that Christmas wasn’t
fair.”
“Christmas isn’t fair?” Helen looked
puzzled.
“Yes. It was also my favorite
Christmas.”
“You really have me interested now.”
Mary smiled. “Would you like to hear
about it?”
“Yes, I certainly would.” And Helen
settled back in her chair with her hot drink in her hands.
“It was way back in the ‘30s when I
was ten years old, and I will admit that I was rather selfish back then. It all
started the day my father came home late– Well, no, actually, it started before
then, after school. I was walking home with my brother and two friends. We were
talking about Christmas, as kids do in December, and I said, . . .”
*
“We’re going to have a huge
Christmas tree this year like we always do. I think we get a bigger one every
year. And we’re going to decorate it with lights and ornaments. I’m going to
ask if we can buy some of those new ones I saw in the store window. And we’ll
have so many presents to open! We always do. And Mama will make cookies, and
we’ll have a big dinner with turkey and ham and potatoes, and all sorts of good
things, like we always do. Oh, we’ll have a great Christmas. What are you
doing?” And Mary Lou turned to her friends.
George shrugged. “I don’t know. Dad
won’t be here for Christmas, and it’s hard to do much in a boarding house, so I
don’t think we’ll do much.”
“Will you have a tree?” Dick Reeder
asked.
George shook his head. “Nope.
There’s already one in the house, and we don’t have space for one in our
rooms.”
“Are you getting a tree, Patsy?”
Dick asked.
“No. Grandma Olson says we can’t
afford one and don’t have a place to put one since I moved in with her.”
“You can come and look at our tree,”
Mary Lou offered.
The children had reached the
crossroads and stopped.
“I’d better go.” George waved and
hurried away.
“Come on, Mary Lou,” Dick said,
“we’d better get going too, or Mama will wonder where we are. Bye, Patsy!”
Patsy waved and ran off while the
brother and sister headed for home.
“What do you want for Christmas,
Dick?” Mary Lou asked.
“Oh, I want a new bike and the new
tool set I was telling Dad about, and a new game and some books, and some other
things. What do you want?”
Mary Lou had her list ready. “A new
doll house and new roller skates. And there’s a baby doll that is just too
cute. And I want the full set of Little House books, and a red dress with a
white collar, and . . .” Her voice died away as they rounded the bend in the
road.
*
Mary laughed a little. “I had a list
a mile long of what I wanted that year. I had poured over every mail order
catalogue that came into the house and wanted to visit every shop in town. I
wanted new clothes and books and toys.” She shook her head. “You know how kids
are when it comes to things they want.”
“That’s for sure,” Helen agreed.
“Anyway, I talked of almost nothing
except Christmas for the next day or two. I told how big I wanted our tree, and
I gave Mother my long list of what I wanted to find under the Christmas tree.
Mother didn’t really say anything. But then she was busy taking care of my
little brother. Willie was only two then.
“But I remember the evening Daddy
came home late. We’d already eaten and were sitting around playing with Willie.
Mother looked at Daddy, and he shook his head as he took his coat off. Then he
came over and sat down on the couch beside her.”
*
“Daddy,” Mary Lou asked, “when are
we going to get our Christmas tree?”
“I’m afraid–” Daddy began and then
stopped and looked at Mama.
“Dick, Mary Lou,” Mama began,
“there’s something you two should know.”
“Are we going to Grandma’s?” Mary
Lou asked quickly.
Mama shook her head. “No. You see,
Daddy lost his job last week.”
“Lost his job?” Dick exclaimed.
“What for?”
“They can’t afford as many people,
son. This depression is hitting pretty hard.” Dad’s voice was quiet.
“But what does that have to do with
a Christmas tree?” Mary Lou demanded.
“It means,” Mama said, “that we
don’t have money to buy a large one. And,” she went on before either child
could say anything, “it also means there won’t be many gifts this year.”
“But–” Mary Lou stared at her
parents. “But that’s not fair!”
“Can’t you get another job, Dad?”
Dick asked hopefully.
“I’ve been trying, Dick. There just
isn’t anything so far.”
Mary Lou buried her face in her
hands. “It’s not fair!” she cried.
Mama handed Willie to Dad and moved
over beside Mary Lou. “Honey,” she lifted her chin, “life isn’t going to be
fair. The very first Christmas wasn’t fair.”
“What do you mean, Mama?” And Dick
moved closer.
“Do you think it was fair that the
God who created the whole world just by speaking should leave Heaven and become
a tiny baby and be born in a stable with smelly animals?”
“Well, no.” And Dick frowned a
little.
“And,” Mama went on, “He didn’t come
just to be born as a baby. He came to die for the sins of the whole world, even
when He had done nothing wrong. Now, does that seem very fair to you?”
Dick shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“Mary Lou?”
Mary Lou wouldn’t look up, but she
shook her head.
“Does this mean we won’t have any
Christmas?” Dick demanded.
“Oh, we’ll do something,” Dad
promised, setting Willie on the floor.
Mama stood up. “You two had better
get your homework done and then get to bed. Tomorrow’s another school day.”
With a groan, Dick stood up. “Come
on, Mary Lou, I’ll help you with your spelling.”
As the children walked away, Mama
turned to Dad. “What are we going to do?”
“Pray.”
*
Mary took a sip of her hot drink.
“It took me a long time to get to sleep that night. I knew a lot of dads were
out of work. Ourfriend George’s father was off working at one of the Civilian
Conservation Corps projects and had been gone for several months.”
“Then his family was at least
getting some money, right?”
Mary nodded. “Yes, and I wasn’t sure
if I wanted my dad to join that so we’d have money, or if I wanted him to just
stay home so we could be a family. What I really wanted, of course, was for him
not to have lost his job.”
Helen nodded. “So, what happened?”
“Well, the next day on the way to
school, Patsy and George met us as they usually did.”
*
“Have you gotten your tree yet?”
Patsy asked.
“Nope. Don’t know if we’re going to
get one either,” Dick answered in matter of fact tones.
“Why not? I thought you always got a
huge one?” And George looked puzzled.
“Dad lost his job,” Mary Lou said.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mary Lou.” Patsy
hugged her friend. “Is he going to join the CCC?”
Mary Lou shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Dad said we’d still do something
for Christmas,” Dick said.
“It’s just not fair,” Mary Lou said.
“Yeah, but remember what Mama said
about the first Christmas,” Dick reminded her.
“What did she say?” Patsy and George
asked at the same time.
“It wasn’t fair that Jesus had to
leave Heaven and be born in a dirty stable and then die for our sins,” Dick
answered.
“But He did it anyway,” George
remarked thoughtfully.
The ringing of the school bell left
no time for more conversation.
*
“That’s an interesting thought,”
Helen remarked. “I hadn’t thought of how unfair that first Christmas really
was.”
Mary nodded. “I know. It’s easy to
overlook. We get so caught up in trying to make sure everyone has the same
number of presents, or that we don’t forget to send someone a Christmas card,
that we forget Christmas isn’t about being fair, or even about what gifts we
get. But I wasn’t sure about all that back then.”
Mary clasped her hands around her
mug and continued her story.
“When we got home from school that
day Daddy was home building a block tower with Willie. I remember just how
strange it was to see him at home on a weekday.”
*
“How was school?” Dad asked.
“Fine,” Dick answered.
“Did you find a job, Daddy?” Mary
Lou asked hopefully.
Daddy shook his head. “No.”
“Can’t you join the CCC like George’s
daddy?”
Daddy shook his head. “It’s not that
simple.”
Just then Mama came into the room.
“I think,” she said, “we need to make some plans for Christmas.”
Dick dumped his books down and sat
on the floor with his legs crossed to help Willie built a tower. “What sort of
plans?”
Mary Lou remained standing, a sad
look on her face.
Mama sat down with a paper and
pencil “Well,” she began, “we should think of things we can do to make
Christmas special. I thought perhaps we could invite George and his mother to
do something with us.”
Mary Lou folded her arms. “But they
have money.”
“Mary Lou, it’s not about money,”
Mama said gently. “It’s about celebrating the birth of the One who came to save
us from our sins.”
“I want a Christmas tree.”
Dad spoke. “Mr. Lawton, over on the
edge of town, said there were some trees in his woods that would be nice for
Christmas. Said we were welcome to come help ourselves.”
“Could we take Patsy along?” Dick
asked. “It didn’t sound like her grandma was planning on much Christmas at
all.”
“I think that would be nice,” Mama
smiled, writing the idea down on her paper. “What else could we do? Mary Lou,
do you have any ideas?”
Mary Lou remained standing and shook
her head.
“Can we make cookies at all this
year, Mama?” Dick asked.
“I think so. Not a lot, but I think
we can manage a few. Anything else?” Mama looked over at Dad and Mary Lou, then
smiled at Willie.
“I know what I’d like to do,” Dad
remarked, after a short silence. “I’d like to focus on the whole Christmas
story this year, not just the first part.”
“The whole story, Dad?” Dick turned
a puzzled face to his father. “But we usually have the whole thing. We read the
part in Luke Christmas Eve night, and then the story in Matthew on Christmas
morning.”
“Honey, I think that would be a
wonderful idea,” Mama put in quickly, not giving Dad a chance to answer.
“But–” Dick began.
“Now, let’s see.” It was evident
that Mama wasn’t going to give Dad a chance to answer Dick’s question.
“Tomorrow is the last day of school until New Year, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Dick stacked a few
blocks up.
“Good. Phil, do you have any plans
for Saturday?”
Dad looked up. “Nope.”
“What do you think of looking for a
Christmas tree then? If it works for George and his Mama and for Patsy?”
Dad agreed with a nod.
“Dick and Mary Lou, why don’t you
run over to Patsy’s and see if she can join us on Saturday. And her grandma
too, if she’d like. And then to the Babcock’s. Make sure Mrs. Babcock knows
we’d love to have her as well as George.”
Dick jumped up. “Come on, Mary Lou!”
Reluctantly, Mary Lou followed.
*
“Let me guess,” Helen said with a
little laugh, “you weren’t happy about the whole plan.”
Mary shook her head. “No, I
certainly wasn’t. I wanted a Christmas tree, but I didn’t want to tramp through
the woods. And I certainly didn’t want to do it with George and Patsy, even
though they were my friends. The idea of being as poor, or maybe even poorer
than they were, just didn’t sit well with me.” She took a sip of her drink.
“Well, did they go with you?”
“Yes. And we came home with a
Christmas tree. It wasn’t full and large like I had dreamed of. I didn’t even
think it was very pretty, but no one listened to me. I can’t say that I blame
them, for I rather sulked the whole time we were in the woods. Mrs. Babcock and
George and Patsy and Mrs. Olson stayed and helped us decorate the tree.”
*
There was much laughter and chatter
in the Reeder living room as everyone helped hang ornaments on the tree while
Christmas songs came over the radio. Even Willie tried to help. No, the
ornaments weren’t spaced out perfectly, and there were some bare spots, but it
was a happy time. When the last ornament was hung, Dick ran over and plugged in
the lights.
“Oh, it’s pretty!”
“Beautiful!”
“It reminds me of the Christmas
trees we used to have before this depression hit and my husband joined the
CCC,” Mrs. Babcock said with a sigh. “It really is lovely.”
“Patsy, did you used to have
Christmas trees like this?” Mary Lou asked.
Patsy nodded. “Yeah. We’d set it up
Christmas Eve, and then Dad would read the Christmas story. I miss that most of
all.”
“We could do that now, couldn’t we,
Dad?” Dick asked.
Dad looked at Mrs. Babcock and Mrs.
Olson. “Would you like to join us?”
“George and I would love to. Thank
you.” Mrs. Babcock sat down on a chair near Mama.
“That would be so nice, Phil. Thank
you.” And Mrs. Olson sat down with Patsy beside her.
Everyone settled down to listen with
eagerness except Mary Lou. She sat by herself and frowned.
*
“Why were you upset?” Helen asked.
“It seems like a beautiful thing to do after decorating a Christmas tree.”
Mary took a drink of her tea and
shook her head. “That’s exactly what my mother asked me after the others had
left. I told her it wasn’t fair that we had to listen to the same thing twice
just because Patsy and George didn’t get to decorate their own trees and listen
to it then. I know, I wasn’t very nice about it, and to be honest, I was
expecting to get into trouble for saying what I did, but my parents were so
wise. They didn’t scold. Instead . . .”
*
“Come sit over here, Mary Lou.”
Mama’s voice was quiet, and she patted the seat beside her.
Mary Lou dragged herself over and
sat down without a word.
“I think,” Mama said, “we need to
hear the rest of the Christmas story.”
Dad nodded and opened his Bible
again. “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there
they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other
on the left. Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what
they do.’” Dad turned some pages and read another verse. “But God commendeth
his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
No one said a word as Dad turned
back some pages and read, “Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures.” Gently Dad closed the Bible. “That is the rest of
the Christmas story.”
“See,” Mama said, “it wasn’t fair.
Jesus Christ not only left the glories of His Father’s home to be born as a
baby in a crowded town full of strangers who had no room for Him except in a
stable with smelly animals, but He came so that He might die for our sins.
Christmas isn’t about gifts or trees or even cookies–though we can enjoy those
things as we celebrate Christ’s birth–it’s about a Savior Who didn’t worry
about how unfair it was that He should suffer for the sins we have done.
Instead He came in love to give His life a ransom for many.”
“I like that,” Dick admitted. “Life
would be a whole lot better if we could forget about trying to make sure things
were fair, and instead thought of doing things because of love.”
“It sure would, son,” Dad said with
a nod and a yawn.
Mama looked at the clock. “It’s getting
late. Time for everyone to head to bed.”
Rising, Dad picked up Willie. “Dick,
will you unplug the Christmas tree?”
*
“I couldn’t get to sleep that
night,” Mary Lou Reeder said. “Those verses Dad had read kept coming back to my
mind. I knew in my head that Jesus had come to die, but I always thought of
that for Easter time, not Christmas. Somehow, hearing it all read together like
that made me think about it differently. I don’t know what time it was when I
finally got up and went into the dark living room. I plugged in the Christmas
tree and sat on the floor hugging my knees and looking at the lights. No, it
wasn’t fair that my dad had lost his job. But others had lost their jobs. Was
it fair that he had kept his job longer than George’s dad? The longer I sat and
thought about it, the more I realized that things I had taken for granted
weren’t fair. But I also realized how special Christmas was even if we didn’t
have everything we were used to having, and how thankful I was that Jesus came
in love and not in fairness; He came to bring salvation to everyone who was
willing to receive it, not to those who deserved it. He came to die for my sins
even when I had rejected His great gift.” Mary fell silent for a few minutes.
Reaching out, Helen placed her hand
on Mary Lou’s arm. “What did you do?”
A smile came over Mary Lou’s face.
“I knelt there beside that Christmas tree, confessed my sins, and received the
best gift anyone could give me.”
Helen let out a sigh. “So that’s why
you love Christmas trees so much.”
“Yes. The Christmas trees remind me
that Christmas isn’t about fairness, it’s about love.”
Have you had really cold weather this week?
Are you ready for Christmas?
If you really want to see me in my costume, you can watch the play HERE.
