America's hope

Last night, Don and I were invited to attend the Christmas pageant of some local Mennonite schoolchildren singing carols and reciting some religious poetry. The event was held in the newish barn of a member of the nearby Mennonite church, a man whom Don knows through their mutual involvement in a professional project. The barn is multipurpose and is often used for community gatherings.

Aside from a few people, Don and I didn't know a soul. And yet – everyone went out of his (or in my case, her) way to introduce him/herself and welcome us to the event. It was absolutely lovely to feel so embraced by this group of strangers.

There were children everywhere, ranging from infants in arms to teens. Kids dashed around engaging in spontaneous games of ring-around-the-rosey and hide-and-seek. Adults ranged from young parents to elderly grandparents and great-grandparents. I'm guessing there were maybe 100 people in attendance.

The pageant opened with a prayer, and then a couple of community carols in which everyone in the audience belted out holiday favorites (we all had hymnbooks on our chairs). Then the school children, ranging in age from about five through fourteen, stepped up and sang their hearts out. And here's the thing – these kids had practiced. They knew every word and line, and they sang it acapella with impressive harmony. They recited some poetry that even the five-year-old knew flawlessly. It was terrific.

Then a group of nine adults took the stage, and they also sang a number of pieces acapella, and they were (in my opinion) polished enough to be professionally recorded. Just beautiful.

After this, the whole audience was invited to pick some favorite Christmas hymns to sing, after which the program closed with a prayer. Everyone mingled to socialize, then lined up for a potluck meal.

I came away deeply impressed by the whole thing. In some ways, it was a snapshot of America's hope. Here was a group of God-fearing, hard-working, community-minded, family-oriented people, young and old, children and elderly, gathering to celebrate Christmas ... and welcoming strangers into their midst.

As I said, Don has been working with this one man on a community project, and he's come to appreciate the Mennonite church and its members for their enthusiastic community involvement and genuinely pious lifestyle.

For the last several years, in our last location and now here in our current home, we've noticed a large influx of Mennonites from other parts of the country. I, for one, welcome them with open arms. We simply couldn't ask for better neighbors.