Cherubim & Seraphim

When a back-to-basics Nativity is too much, a bit of tact and creativity is called for…

“So, nothing SUGARY or girly. You want something with OOMPH”

Angels don’t have wings, so this year none of the angels appearing to the shepherds will be wearing tinsel or wings and the part of Gabriel will be played by a boy,” Jill announced to the children and parents gathered at the back of the hall after Sunday service to discuss the annual Nativity play.

“But the girls always dress up as angels for the Nativity!” said Helen Garrett. “I’ve already made Victoria’s costume and wings.”

“People will expect it,” said Marjorie Evans. “It’s part of Christmas – it’s the ‘aaah’ factor.”

“Yes, but that’s not how it was. I’m going for a more realistic interpretation,” Jill said. They all went away grumbling. Noah, the new vicar, had invited Jill, as a younger member of the Sunday School teaching team, to take on the play this year. She told him about the disgruntled response to her ideas.

“The thing is, in school the kids get a Disney-fied version of the Nativity. Often it barely relates to the real story and sometimes they dispense with it altogether. Shouldn’t we, in church, at least teach the truth?” she said.

“I’m with you all the way,” Noah said. “Stick with it. It’ll work out, I’m sure.”

Jill hoped he was Noah by faith as well as by name if they were all going to survive this tsunami of resistance.

There was a problem she hadn’t anticipated at the first rehearsal – none of the boys wanted to be angels.

“Ugh, that’s sissy!” Ryan North pulled a face and all the other lads giggled.

“But angels in the Bible were men,” Jill explained patiently. “Or they were mistaken for men. And Gabriel was extra-special, along with Michael who was a warrior!”

“Miss John.” Anjelica Lewis tugged at her sleeve. “If the girls can’t be angels what can we be? I don’t want to be an animal in the stable – I already have to dress up as a mouse in the school play.”

“The girls can be part of the heavenly host singing to the shepherds,” Jill said. “We’ll mix you in with the boys.”

“So, I can wear my tinsel and wings and my sparkly dress!” Victoria said. “No tinsel, no wings.” Miserable faces all around.

The next time she was in church, Jill spoke to Tim, the leader of the music group. “We need an appropriate song for the heavenly host in the Nativity play.” Tim frowned. “I’m a bit busy sorting out the music for all the Christmas services,” he said. “Plus, Mimi’s due any day so I don’t know how committed I can be. I’ll ask Connor, one of our new guys, to help you out.”

She’d seen Connor playing the bass guitar in the worship group but hadn’t had a chance to talk to him yet.

“Hi,” he introduced himself over coffee after the service. “Tim tells me you’re looking for someone to help with the music for the Nativity play.”

“Yes,” she said. She wasn’t too sure about his Guardians Of The Galaxy T-shirt or his long hair. “I’m mixing up the angels this year – it’ll be boys and girls. No wings, no tinsel because, as you know, in the Bible angels didn’t have wings.” “Cool, go for it,” he said. “I want something for them to sing when they appear to the shepherds.”

“OK, so nothing sugary or girly, nothing cantata-like. You want something with oomph.” “That sounds great.” Maybe this was going to work – maybe they were on the same page.

“We’re going to have our first rehearsal on Wednesday at six.”

December had been miserable so far – rain and grey skies. That didn’t stop people at work being festive. They’d set up the usual secret Santa scheme and brought in mince pies every day so that by the middle of December everyone was sick of them. Someone had placed a sprig of

mistletoe over the door to the kitchen area but so far she’d managed to avoid it. Most people had garlanded their work areas with tinsel.

Sometimes Jill felt there was a fake atmosphere of bonhomie around the office just because it was the Christmas season. Most people didn’t even know about its religious significance any more.

A lot of the magic had disappeared. It was part of growing up, she supposed.

Maybe that’s why grown women wanted to see their little girls dressed up as angels in the Nativity; they wanted to recreate their childhood memories.

But it wasn’t real and it wasn’t true. Which is why she was glad she was making this year’s Nativity stick more to the original than for the past few years.

When Connor turned up to the rehearsal on Wednesday he was wearing an Avengers T-shirt. “You’re into that sort of stuff, huh?” “Yeah – it’s cool.”

“You don’t find that it conflicts with your faith at all, then?”

“No – it’s fun, it’s not real, and good usually conquers evil. Sometimes you’ve got to stop being so serious, let your imagination roam.”

He wasn’t specifically speaking of her, she knew, and yet she felt convicted. “OK,” she said. She marshalled the children together and gave out the parts. Alastair Knowles was the tallest one so she gave him the part of Gabriel.

“It’s too girly. The girls should be angels,” he protested.

“Dude, don’t you know Gabriel is one of the most powerful of God’s henchmen?” Connor suddenly said. “He was never a girl, ugh, no!” He pulled a face. “You’re the star of the show, a superhero – and these guys, these angels, they’re your posse. You’ve gotta keep them under control, man.”

Alastair considered Connor’s T-shirt and long hair, then shrugged. “OK,” he said. “Thanks,” Jill said quietly to Connor and he winked.

She gathered together all the girls and boys who were to be the heavenly host. After being called a posse the boys didn’t seem to mind so much, but the girls still looked unhappy.

“Connor’s come up with a song for us to sing,” Jill announced.

“It’s a bit out there,” Connor said as he positioned himself at the keyboard. “But it’s fun. I wrote it myself.”

It certainly wasn’t sugary sweet. It was a song with actions and lots of shouting about how great God was and how He’d done a stupendous thing in Bethlehem and how it would “blow your mind!” It wasn’t exactly scriptural language but the kids loved it and once they’d learned it, they wanted to sing it over and over again.

“Come on, Gabe’s Gang!” Connor

incited them. “Frighten those shepherds to Bethlehem!”

“They’ve really warmed to you,” Jill said as they were packing up.

“I’m still a bit of a kid myself,” Connor said. “You’ve just got to make faith fun for them. I love what you’ve done with the play.”

“Thanks.” Jill blushed. “Some of the mums are still unhappy; they want to see their little girls dressed up in tinsel and sparkle. I just want everyone to connect with the story more instead of seeing little princesses up on stage.” “Yeah, that’s a tough one.” Jill switched off the lights and they walked out into the night together.

“It doesn’t feel Christmassy yet, does it?” she sighed as she lifted her face to the soft drizzle. “Why do we dream of a white Christmas? It’s a fantasy.”

“Unless you live in Scandinavia or Canada,” Connor said. “I bet some of them dream of escaping to the Caribbean for Christmas.” “Great song, by the way.” “Thanks.” “Do you want a lift?” “My car’s over there.” “See you Sunday, then.” She watched him climb into his car. She liked his way with the kids, the song that had got them all on board; she even liked his stupid T-shirts and long hair.

Noah came up to her before the service on Sunday. “Victoria’s mum has had words with me,” he said. “She’s not happy that her daughter can’t dress up as an angel.”

Jill sighed. It was just a Nativity play but it was turning into a headache. Strangely enough, no one else seemed to be complaining. After the service, over coffee the kids bunched together in the church hall and broke into the song Connor had taught them, staging their own private rehearsal and drawing bemused glances from everyone else.

When Connor appeared, they called him over. What stupid T-shirt did he have on today? Minions. She shook her head, but couldn’t help smile as well. She found herself wondering if he was seeing anyone.

The revolt wasn’t over. At the next practice little Alice who was only five came up to her and said, “We can still wear tinsel and wings, can’t we, even though the boys are angels, too?”

“No sweetheart, remember what I said?” Jill said gently.

Alice’s little face crumpled. Even Connor’s song didn’t cheer her up.

After the practice Connor asked her if she’d like to go for a coffee.

“OK.” Her stomach did a little flip. No one had asked her to go for a coffee for a long time. It was difficult to find a church-goer her own age who would be interested in her.

Festive music – secular – played as they sat in the coffee shop in town.

“Oh, I like this one, classic,” Connor said and began to sing along with Slade. He grinned when he saw the look on Jill’s face. “Yeah, I love all the secular stuff around Christmas, too. We can still enjoy it, can’t we, even though we know what it’s really all about?”

“I guess we can.” Jill took a sip of her cappuccino with cinnamon.

“You’ve got a moustache.” Connor laughed. She laughed too.

“Listen,” he said. “Here’s a thought: angels are male and don’t have wings. But cherubim and seraphim do and Luke says in his gospel that it was the heavenly host, not specifically angels, that appeared to the shepherds. So, maybe, you could let the girls dress up in their wings and sparkle.” Jill considered it. “You’re right, Luke does say that.” “So, you keep the reality of the story and the girls can have their fairytale. At Christmas I think we need a bit of both.”

Jill studied him for a moment. “You’re very wise,” she said.

“No, I’m a kid at heart who loves Christmas and I love Jesus.”

What a great Nativity this year!” Helen Garrett declared after the service, the Sunday before Christmas.

“And I loved the angels’ song,” said Marjorie Evans.

“They weren’t angels, they were cherubim and – ” Jill started, then gave up. “It was Connor’s own composition.”

The kids were still singing the song as everyone was filing out after the service and when Connor approached, the boys and some of the older girls high-fived him.

“Thank you, Miss.” Victoria came up to her in her splendid princess dress, tinsel crown and sparkly wings. “I really enjoyed that. You were brilliant.” Jill glowed at the unexpected praise. “That truly brought us the magic of Christmas,” Noah said as they shook hands on the way out.

“Hey!” She turned to find Connor catching her up. “Do you want to get a coffee in town?”

“I’d love to,” she said, wrapping up in hat and scarf and gloves – it had got colder in the last couple of days.

As they stepped out together into the night Jill felt something brush her cheek. She looked upwards.

“Snow!” she said in delight. She suddenly felt like a child.

“Fantasy does happen sometimes,” Connor said, placing a hand on her back.

All of a sudden she thought she could hear the cherubim and seraphim singing.

She SHOOK HER HEAD at him but couldn’t help but SMILE as well