From: gpalo@digi.lonestar.org (Gerry Palo)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Christmas question
Date: 11 Dec 92 22:51:37 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: DSC Communications Corp, Plano, TX

In article <Af7YEI_00Uh7M29=M7@andrew.cmu.edu> Laura McGinnis 
<lm3a+@andrew.cmu.edu> writes (in part):


>We're also trying to emphasis the Christ side of Christmas.  Mickey is 3
>this year & it looks like he's more aware of Christmas than ever.
>
Here is our approach:

We celebrate Christmas over 12 days.  Leading up to it, our daily devotions
during Advent have built up the anticipation of the coming of the Christ
Child, as Mary, Joseph and the donkey wend their way across the livingroom
towards the manger in Bethlehem.  Each Advent Sunday we bring gifts to
the manger.  First stones - crystals, etc., products of the mineral kingdom;
then plants (e.g. pine cones, dried ears of wheat;  then animal products,
such as shells;  Then man -- manmade things.  Of course the Advent wreath
is lighted, one new candle each week.

On Christmas eve we put op the Christmas tree, bare except for three apples
and an angel at the top.  This is a picture of the tree of paradise.  We
are sure to tell the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall from paradise, from
which the coming of Christ frees us.

On Christmas eve, Mary and Joseph arrive at the creche (a cave) and go in.
That night when the children are in bed, the tree is decorated by "the
angel" and Santa Claus.  We freely let the children live with the idea
of Santa Claus as a real being spiritually, who is a helper of Christ. Our
oldest (7) is beginning to understand what Santa Claus (who originates in
St. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra) really is.

In the morning, a curtain closes off the living room.  The children line
up until I light all the candles. Throughout Advent the number of candles
in the room has grown apace.  Christmas morning the room is full of them,
including the tree, on which we have real candles (use the European style
of candle holders and, preferably, a balsam tree).  The creche now contains
the child in the manger, and the shepherds are there (but not the kings).

The room, now flooded with candle light (the curtains are drawn and it is
usually darkish outside anyway), and I ring a bell three times.  The children
march in singing "Angels we have heard on high".  It is a magical moment,
and we stand there and sing a few more carols.  I or my wife read from
Luke 2, and we sing another song.  Then we open our stockings, which were
put out the night before, along with cookies and carots for the reindeer --
these have been consumed by now.  That is all for the moment.

We then have breakfast and go to Christmas services.  (We handle Christmas
eve services differently each year, depending on the current ages of our
children).  When we come back from church we have lunch.  Then we go
back to the tree and open presents, but only a few.

Each morning thereafter for the 12 days, we repeat the candle lighting
and carol singing, opening one or two presents.  Some days there may be
no presents, but the main thing is that we spread them out, so we don't
get that Christmas day overdose, after which it is all over.  And the
main activity is bathed in the glowing light of candles, carols, and
devotions.

Starting Christmas day, the three kings (these are all little carved
wood figures) start on their journey from the east, and make their way
a little farther each of the twelve holy nights.  The children get to move
them as we sing "We Three Kings of Orient Are".  We also name them,
Caspar, Melchior, Balthazar (their traditional names) and which gift
each one brings. The moving of the wise men happens during our evening
devotions.  Then, on January 6, Epiphany and Three Kings day, they arrive
at the creche.  By now the shepherds have returned to their fields, and
the kings come and worship with their gifts.  That day we take down the
tree, put everything away, and bring the tree to the recycling place,
where we thank it for being such a good Christmas tree and say goodbye.
The children know that it will be returned to the earth, whence other
trees will grow, or that it may become the bedding for a children's 
playground somewhere.

Our emphasis is not so much on "Jesus's birthday" but on the reality of
Christ's Advent -- his coming to us _now_, in our time, in our hearts.
It is not just the birth of the Child, but the birth of the risen Christ
Jesus in our own hearts that, we believe, Advent and Christmas are
really about.  Meanwhile, the seasons of Advent and "Christmastide" are
events that have a beginning, a growing, and an ending over many days.
I cant help but believing that the memories and deep feelings experienced
by us and our children will be a rich treasure many years from now as we
and they look back on their childhood and our Christmases together.

P.S. We also don't have a TV in our house, which helps keep the mood
precious and lovely. Our children are seven, three, and eighteen months.

Gerry Palo (73237.2006@compuserve.com)
Newsgroups: misc.kids