The youth group decided that what they liked most in this film, apart from the abseiling donkey, was the journey. The songs and competition were fun and interesting, the ‘Justin Bieber’ character was just like JB, and when Mr Peterson stood up to his father we almost cheered, but the journey involved getting to know each other in a different way.
As members of St Bernadettes, led by Mr Poppy, first kidnapped their teacher, then bunked school in a ‘borrowed’ Duck Tour bus, we discovered who each of the characters really were. No bravado, no stupid games, no breaking or hiding behind rules, only a ridiculous sense of adventure and a stowaway baby helped them discover their own truths.
Christmas is full of ‘stuff’, the Christmas stuff of commercialism, the Christmas stuff of painful family traditions and memories which should really be forgotten. As St B’s choir trudged through the welsh mountainside they made a connection with the reality of Christmas.
The first Christmas was about a broken family trying to keep it going. A family with little wealth, miles from home trying not to despair. Trying to hold onto hope. Hope for them wasn’t the glittering star, or the singing angels, but the infant born in a barn. So too for this Christmas cast, hope didn’t arrive in the glittering prize, but in the unexpected witnessing of Mrs Peterson giving birth to not one, but two baby boys. Surprisingly Mr Peterson’s world famous brother didn’t find joy in another trophy either, despite his endeavours to win at all costs, and even the angel turned out to be somewhat tarnished; in becoming an uncle though, he found his place in a loving and forgiving family once more.
This is what Christmas offers to each of us. Hope, a loving and forgiving place in a family, and the chance to discover who we truly are as we adventure forward, towards the manger.
nothinglikeadane 
Leave a comment