I was able to attend yet another Christmas 'Carol Singing' Assembly yesterday at a different public school. This time I thought I'd pay really close attention to the assembly and what was being said. Here's what I got:
#1 - All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth
#2 - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus (underneath the mistletoe of all places)
#3 - Walking in a Winter Wonderland (and they changed the lyrics from 'pretend that he is Parsons Brown' to 'pretend that he's a circus clown')(Honestly - WHY would you make a snowman into a CIRCUS CLOWN....)
#4 - We wish you a Merry Christmas (in another couple years - I'm sure they'll try to change the lyrics to Merry X-mas...)
#5 - Must be Santa ("must be santa, must be santa, must be santa claus....")(this was a new one for me)
#6 - Go Light Your World (warm sentimental song with a loving message of taking our candle out to the world)
There. Six songs about (?). I think we're tempted to say - well the spirit of the holidays is about love, and giving, and the historical santa claus became a saint because of what he did and who he believed in.
But I honestly don't believe that the children in that assembly walked away thinking "Yeah, Santa Claus was a bishop who gave presents because he believed in a baby named Jesus".
I think the little kids say to each other "what fun songs!" and the older kids walk away saying "How annoying that we sing those songs every year".
There was (some)(however small) consolation in this assembly. The librarian read a story.... Not just any story... "Santa's Favourite Story". A story about elves who go to Santa to ask what his favourite story is. Santa says that his favourite story is the Nativity story. And then the elves are happy because they now know Santa's favourite story. Conclusion - Santa's favourite story tells us about love and that the VERY BEST Christmas present of all - is Christmas itself.
I was happy with the story, and I'm not. And later talked to the librarian about it. She said she chose it because it had two "sides".
I said, "I see... are you a Christian then?" (because there ARE Christians in the public schools) and she said "no, I just believe."
Interesting?
I'm not happy with this story because it confirms what I believe is happening to Christmas - We're hiding the story of Jesus behind falsities. We're saying, "Yay! Christmas! Santa's Bringing Presents! Santa's Awesome! It's about Jesus. Yay for Santa!"
I realized this morning that I'm starting to have a favourite character in the Bible (other than Jesus). I'm identifying with Daniel. Perhaps this is because teaching in a public school asks that I keep a 'close check' on the things I'm allowed to say about Jesus Christ. In other words - Teach, don't Preach. I'll give 'props' to anyone who has the courage to Preach in a public school.
The sad thing is that the public schools are ALLOWED to talk about Jesus. They are fully permitted to TEACH the story of Christ Jesus. They are not allowed to PREACH the story of Jesus. But they ARE allowed to Teach it.
Sadly, They're not teaching it at all.
#1 - All I want for Christmas are my two front teeth
#2 - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus (underneath the mistletoe of all places)
#3 - Walking in a Winter Wonderland (and they changed the lyrics from 'pretend that he is Parsons Brown' to 'pretend that he's a circus clown')(Honestly - WHY would you make a snowman into a CIRCUS CLOWN....)
#4 - We wish you a Merry Christmas (in another couple years - I'm sure they'll try to change the lyrics to Merry X-mas...)
#5 - Must be Santa ("must be santa, must be santa, must be santa claus....")(this was a new one for me)
#6 - Go Light Your World (warm sentimental song with a loving message of taking our candle out to the world)
There. Six songs about (?). I think we're tempted to say - well the spirit of the holidays is about love, and giving, and the historical santa claus became a saint because of what he did and who he believed in.
But I honestly don't believe that the children in that assembly walked away thinking "Yeah, Santa Claus was a bishop who gave presents because he believed in a baby named Jesus".
I think the little kids say to each other "what fun songs!" and the older kids walk away saying "How annoying that we sing those songs every year".
There was (some)(however small) consolation in this assembly. The librarian read a story.... Not just any story... "Santa's Favourite Story". A story about elves who go to Santa to ask what his favourite story is. Santa says that his favourite story is the Nativity story. And then the elves are happy because they now know Santa's favourite story. Conclusion - Santa's favourite story tells us about love and that the VERY BEST Christmas present of all - is Christmas itself.
I was happy with the story, and I'm not. And later talked to the librarian about it. She said she chose it because it had two "sides".
I said, "I see... are you a Christian then?" (because there ARE Christians in the public schools) and she said "no, I just believe."
Interesting?
I'm not happy with this story because it confirms what I believe is happening to Christmas - We're hiding the story of Jesus behind falsities. We're saying, "Yay! Christmas! Santa's Bringing Presents! Santa's Awesome! It's about Jesus. Yay for Santa!"
I realized this morning that I'm starting to have a favourite character in the Bible (other than Jesus). I'm identifying with Daniel. Perhaps this is because teaching in a public school asks that I keep a 'close check' on the things I'm allowed to say about Jesus Christ. In other words - Teach, don't Preach. I'll give 'props' to anyone who has the courage to Preach in a public school.
The sad thing is that the public schools are ALLOWED to talk about Jesus. They are fully permitted to TEACH the story of Christ Jesus. They are not allowed to PREACH the story of Jesus. But they ARE allowed to Teach it.
Sadly, They're not teaching it at all.
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