Me And The Herdmans

We finished reviewing for our first semester finals late last week. It's been a different kind of term, particularly with the loss of six days of school due to Hurricane Harvey. I was able to get my normal amount of material covered by eliminating some memory verses/writing assignments and speeding up the note taking process slightly. Reviewing for me is a four step process and I used the time I normally show a daily video clip to show sections of the one hour made for TV movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It was made almost thirty-five years ago without actors you would probably recognize outside of Loretta Swit of MASH fame. It was adapted from a short book by Barbara Robinson, published in 1971. The story revolves around, as you might have guessed, the annual nativity recreation by a church. When the director is injured in a household mishap, Grace (Swit) takes over to the chagrin of her kids and husband. The story is narrated by Grace's daughter, Beth, who tells us about the Herdmans,  a family of six children whose father abandoned them and whose mother is working and never home. The Herdmans make the kids life miserable at school but when Grace's son, Charley, lies to Leroy Herdman, the whole Herdman clan shows up at church and intimidates the other kids to not volunteer for the pageant's juicy roles. So, Ralph, Imogene, Ollie, Claude, Leroy, Ralph, and Gladys Herdman star as Joseph, Mary, the Magi, and the announcing angel respectively. Beth intones that the Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world and based on what we see, she's right. The Herdmans are the type of youngsters who drive teachers out of education. And they come close to destroying the church building, the pageant itself, and Grace's sanity as we witness one fiasco after another. The church is up in arms as the performance approaches. Grace fears no one will come but potential disasters draw crowds. And this one did as well.

As you might guess in a Christmas TV movie, the show was a huge success but not in the way anyone could have imagined. And here's the main points I took away and which I tried to get my students to catch. The Herdmans were the only ones to really get the meaning. The rest of the kids, and even Grace, had heard the story of the birth of the Savior so many times it was perfunctory. But these welfare kids who knew nothing about anything asked questions that were brilliant in their simplicity.  I can't say they were transformed by their acting experiences but at least many in the church became slightly less harsh in their judgments. I asked my students how many would want the Herdmans in their churches. There were a few takers but most said no because they were disruptive. Charley  describes Ralph and Imogene when getting ready for their roles playing the newlywed couple as messy. They were and we aren't comfortable with messy. We prefer neat and tidy in our walk with the Lord. But the grown up Jesus, who was played by a doll because no mother trusted Imogene with a real infant, hung around the messy types. As a kid, I was blessed with wonderful nurturing parents, but I still had the times of messiness. Truthfully, I still do. I hope I can better relate to those who share my condition. Some of us are just better at disguising it.

Applicable quote of the day:
You have to remind kids to stay connected to the meaning of Christmas. Sometimes it takes a little bit of effort, but it's so worth it.
Caroline Kennedy

To watch The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, click or copy/paste the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EenX3OIjWLY&list=PLq4iLS7GptNEeqGDk7HYDVxQ_K41EFXYS


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com