So the other day I was at Wal-Mart picking up a few craft and food items for my primary class’s Christmas party. Like a lost puppy with no clue where to go or what to do I was pacing up and down an aisle looking for a cheap craft that 9 year olds would dig but not destroy someone’s home making. Enter two 19-year old-ish girls, both are let’s say a little girlish. One girl was looking for a craft to make with her nieces and nephews, she was looking at various crafts and finally came to the conclusion that she would like to get something with a star shape. The other girl asked why she wanted a star shape to which the girl replied, because the star led the wise men to Jesus so it would be a cool craft to talk about Christmas. The other girl starts in saying, there was no star, the little drummer boy led the wise men to Jesus. The two girls actually got into a fight, yelling at each other about who was right. The girl who wanted the star asked why the other thought a drummer led the wise men, to which she replied, that is what they taught us in church and stormed off, yelling back, that she would be waiting in the car for her to get a craft that taught kids the wrong stories.
Now I was standing in the aisle the entire time, trying not to laugh out-loud or just intervene. So after the one girl stormed off, I looked at the girl left in the aisle and said “the star led the wise men to Jesus, it appeared in the night sky for the first time to mark his birth, while the drummer boy is just a nice Christmas carol.”
While the story is funny, here’s the kicker for me. So Saturday arrives and I am having fun with my little primary class, two of the kids brought 5 year old siblings, when posed with the question, “who or what led the wise men to Jesus” both 5 year olds screamed the North Star before the 9 year olds even “understood” the question.
Perhaps innocence has the ability to teach us that the gospel, including its hymns are true, while other songs and stories, are just that, nice songs and stories meant to entertain. If we could see things like a little child perhaps we might see the Angels on high watching over us, the North star pointing our way, wise men teaching us and ushering us through life – giving us spiritual gold, and Christ welcoming us as we welcome him.
5 years ago