Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/91

Contributor - Mary Verhoog

Title - A Christmas of Joy and of Forgiveness

Topic - Christmas

Why is one Christmas more memorable than the others? As an adult I am remembering a Christmas during the Great Depression. These bits and pieces are precious memories because I found joy with my classmates and received forgiveness from my father.

Miss Oatman was my grade school teacher at Cornell Public School. I daily walked through the farmer's field and up a gravel road where the school house stood on a hill. Eight grades shared one teacher in one large room. We had no electricity, an outdoor bathroom and drafty floors. Miss Oatman saw to it that the Christmas program was the highlight of the year. We learned our lines, memorized songs and sewed costumes. As the concert date drew nearer I became increasingly anxious. Would I trip on stage in my 'Alice Blue Gown' costume? That evening Dad rushed the cows through the milking. As we entered the school room we saw the stage set in front of the room. Parents and friends found their seats and the curtain rolled up. Faces of the children glowed as they sang on and on, "Hark the Herald Angels sing, glory to the newborn King". Shining eyes outshone the lyrics and cemented the words to everyone's heart. That evening I remember my face reflected the joy of not forgetting my lines. In 1946 we moved, but the warmth of the Christ-centred concert in that one room school made an indelible impression on my future Christmas celebrations.

May the God of all hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,

that you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13

The forgiveness born in Bethlehem was revealed to me that Christmas when the Great Depression was in full swing. Today I can close my eyes and bring back the scene at will. Many times it has helped me in forgiving others. Christmas was a special holiday for Dad. He was a tobacco farmer and had struggled with the tobacco buyers to extend to him some cash credit. He had succeeded, and with Mom had placed our chosen gifts under the tree. Early Christmas morning Ben, Josie and I raced downstairs and unwrapped our gifts. The kitchen door opened and in came Dad with the morning milk, and I saw the disappointment in his eyes. He had not been able to share in our joy in opening the gifts; however, with smiling eyes masking his inward pain he gathered us around him and gave us a special blessing, a gift that could not be wrapped. He told us, "No matter how poor we are, there is always something that we can give; a kind word, a prayer, a touch, even a smile". That morning I felt the smile of his forgiveness and I saw in his eyes a blessing of love.

You may practice being kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. Eph. 4:32

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