Methodists Do It Better...

...and no, I'm not talking about sex (though I admit, I do giggle every time I hear the dumb old joke about Baptists not "doing it" standing up because it might look like dancing). We went to an event that happened to be at a Methodist church, but could have been put on by many groups, and it was better. Better than the knee-jerk complaints you hear every year at the holidays.

A parking attendant waved us onto a driveway lined with kitschy milk-gallon lanterns. Kids, teens, and adults stood in the bitter cold, dressed up as Middle Eastern characters.  A ten-year-old boy wore blotchy makeup that was supposed to be a beard. My husband Jeremy read placards out loud to our two-year-old son. In bright brown block calligraphy, the placards told a simple version of the Christmas story.

Seeing something like this--where ordinary people use their creative talents to tell a wonderful, simple, spiritual story--is the best way to celebrate the holidays. This, my friends, is a much more effective statement of "what Christmas is all about" than spending more than you can afford on presents, or getting huffy with a store clerk who wishes you "Happy Holidays" instead of recognizing your holiday. Personally, I like Christmas and New Year's, and I'm sure I would like Hanukkah if I were a Jew.

If the holidays are not fun, maybe you're not doing them right.