“A Christmas Smile”

Characters: Teacher, Tim (puppet)

Props: none

Tim: (singing) Joy to the world! the Lord is come; Let earth receive her King; Let every heart prepare Him room, and heaven and nature sing …

Teacher: Hi there Tim! You sure are in a good mood! Have you been to Carols by Candlelight?

Tim: Yes … but that’s not why I’m singing today.

Teacher: OK, well, is it because it’s nearly Christmas and you’ve been thinking about all the wonderful things that you’ll do on Christmas day?

Tim: Well, now that you mention it, I am looking forward to Christmas day … but that’s not why I’m singing “Joy to the World” today.

Teacher: OK Tim, I give up. Why are you so happy today?

Tim: Because I just got back from the shopping mall.

Teacher: The shopping mall?

Tim: The shopping mall. You know … lots of shops, with people buying toys, presents, food for Christmas day, Santa sitting in a big chair with kids getting their picture taken, tinsel and decorations in every window …

Teacher: Yes, I know what a shopping mall is … but why does that put you in a good mood? Normally about this time of year, it’s so busy that everyone is just really grumpy by the time they get home. Oh I get it now … they were playing that song over and over and over and over and over and …

Tim: No – I think I only heard it once, but would you like me to tell you my story?

Teacher: Yes please … I was running out of ideas anyway!

Tim: OK well I went to the mall with my mum and Jen, my sister, because mum said we needed some more food for Christmas day. I thought two fridge-fulls would be enough but apparently she said we’re feeding the 5000 or something like that.

Anyway, mum and Jen went off into the shops and left me outside to eat my fruit mince pie, which was really, really yummy by the way.

Teacher: So what happened next?

Tim: So I was sitting in the mall, eating my fruit mince pie and watching all the people going past.

I noticed that most people didn’t look very happy. They were rushing from one shop to the next and they looked really tired and some were a bit grumpy too. There were other mums with little kids and babies, mums by themselves carrying lots of shopping, grandparents with their handbags on wheels, teenagers hanging around with their friends, and security guards frowning at everyone.

All their smiles were gone because they were too busy and tired with all the things they had to do for Christmas.

Teacher: Yes, well, there are a lot of parents who get very tired at Christmas time because they want to get everything perfect for Christmas day and that takes a lot of work. So what happened next?

Tim: Well, I was sitting there for a while and mum and Jen were taking ages to get back because it was really busy. All of a sudden, I heard a small band start playing some Christmas carols so I moved a little bit so I could see them.

Teacher: I hope you didn’t go too far from where your mum left you?

Tim: No not far. Anyway, I could see that most people weren’t paying any attention to the band but I think they would have liked to be noticed because they had a little hat out the front and occasionally someone put some money in.

Teacher: It’s a hard way to get some pocket money huh?

Tim: Sure is! Well, they’d only played a couple of carols when along came a big person who looked really excited to hear their music. He was really big, like my dad, but he spoke funny like his mouth wouldn’t work properly … but he always had a happy look on his face. I think he wasn’t very smart though.

Anyway, he stopped, listened for a minute, then his face got really happy and he started dancing around! Right in the middle of the shopping mall!

Teacher: Right in front of everyone? Was he part of the band or something?

Tim: No, I don’t think so because they all had uniforms on. I could also see lots of people pointing and giving him funny looks, but then an amazing thing happened to each one of them: as they stopped, they began to smile because they could see the joy that was all over the funny guy’s face and I think it began to rub off on them.

Teacher: Smiles sure are contagious aren’t they? You just do one little smile and pretty soon everyone has one! Did the other adults start dancing too?

Tim: No – no other adults. I think they were too scared to do this in a shopping mall but the funny guy didn’t care. He didn’t even seem to notice and he just kept on dancing around, having so much fun.

As I watched though, I saw some little kids come up and they started dancing. That just made even more people stop and smile – and even as they walked off, they were still smiling.

Teacher: Tim, that’s a great story but how did that make you start you singing “Joy to the World”?

Tim: Well, the story is the whole reason why I was singing! You know, I think the funny guy was the only one in that whole shopping mall who knew what Christmas is all about!

It’s about Joy to the World because Jesus was born! So let’s celebrate, have some fun, and enjoy it for that reason rather than getting tired out shopping for food and presents which don’t really matter that much.

You know, I’ll never forget that funny guy … he may not be too smart but he sure knows what Christmas joy is.

Teacher: Thanks for sharing your story with us Tim. You’ve really made us think about Christmas in a new way. Hey, can we sing “Joy to the World” with you and have some fun enjoying the real reason for Christmas?

Tim: Sure! Let’s sing it right now! Can we do some dancing too? I really feel like dancing. The funny guy’s joy has rubbed off on me and now it’s rubbing off on all of you too!

Teacher: Of course!

- END -

Notes:

· This story was based on an actual experience I had today (December 24, 2004) where I was sitting down waiting for my wife to return with some shopping and 4-5 kids were playing carols in a brass band. There was an intellectually disabled guy there dancing around, oblivious to everyone else, just enjoying himself immensely.

· It was just amazing to watch the expressions change from tired/upset/worried to joy as they smiled at this guy just enjoying himself without a care in the world.

· I had to write it down and capture some of the moment as I realised that the intellectually disabled guy was actually the smartest one in the whole shopping mall. He wasn’t caught up in all the material stuff or the worries of Christmas. He was experiencing the joy of the season – and that’s what it’s all about.

Merry Christmas!

May we always remember the true joy and meaning of Christmas

Joy to the World

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;

Let earth receive her King;

Let every heart prepare Him room,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven and nature sing,

and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! the Savior reigns;

Let men their songs employ;

while fields and floods,

rocks, hills and plains

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat the sounding joy,

Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessing flow

far as the curse is found,

far as the curse is found,

far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

and makes the nations prove

the glories of His righteousness,

and wonders of His love,

and wonders of His love,

and wonders, wonders of His love.