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.”
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