I had the opportunity to write and direct parts of the Christmas story with a few additional characters several years ago. The play was rehearsed for six one hour after-school drama classes. The group consisted of five rambunctious young shepherds, two sheep named Bob and Joe and two very sweet angels. The girls were outnumbered by the boys, which doesn’t happen often. As you can see from this photo, the boys had just put in a full day of school, it was about a week before Christmas vacation, and they were definitely restless.

Behind the scenes brought some interesting behavior issues. The only way smother some of their exuberance was to improvise. We sat in a circle, much like the shepherds would sit around a campfire and tell stories from their ancestors. The sheep in this endeavor were not your usual sheep. Instead of bleating, they could actually talk. We talked about the story of the coming Messiah. This was told for many years before the event occurred. The longer they waited, the more impatient they became. The sheep weren’t about to go to sleep. Even counting sheep didn’t help. Some Bible passages were inserted into the dialogue to give it a little accuracy. These kids were used to memorizing for their religion classes. They managed to accomplish learning those verses without a hitch.

Bob and Joe, the sheep, were bored, but this story had been passed on by their ancestors too. They had a few comments to add and bring a chuckle or two from the audience. At last, it was time for the angels to show up. I knew they were excited to sing their alleluias and point the shepherds to the star which would direct them to the newborn king. They repeated the promise of the coming Messiah. Some of the shepherds didn’t believe the angels. Some believed the angels were a figment of their imagination. The angels had difficulty saying the word “Alleluia” and one of them was molting, leaving a trail of feathers behind her.

As most parents and teachers will tell you, students are pretty useless during the month of December. Their focus is on the material side of Christmas and all the sugar they consume during that time. Choosing this scenario was the perfect chance for us to talk about patience and being restless. Our conversation continued around the “campfire.” When I brought up the subject of superheroes, I got their attention. They began to talk about Jesus being the superhero who came to wipe away all our sins. There was some talk about John, the baptizer and what led to his death, but I’ll leave that your imagination.

A lot was learned in that discussion. Not only by these young Thespians but myself as well. Sometimes it takes a long, long time to have something we want. If we patiently wait, when it does happen, it will be worth it. Maybe that’s what we all need – especially at this time of the year.