The church Christmas play was already late in starting. A commotion was going on backstage, but the audience could not tell what was happening. 

 

Finally, the director stepped to the microphone and announced, “Due to circumstances beyond our control, Mary, the mother of Jesus, will appear tonight in a new red dress.”

 

The congregation erupted in laughter. 

 

It turns out that the 5-year-old girl who was slated to play Mary, refused to wear anything but her new red dress.

 

The adults backstage pleaded with her, the director spoke to her, and finally her parents talked to her about the need to wear the costume for Mary instead of her new red dress. The little girl would not be moved and insisted on wearing the dress, or she would not go onstage.

 

So when the director announced that Mary would appear in a new red dress, a voice was heard from behind the curtain shouting, “If Mary had had a new red dress, she would have worn it!”

 

I agree with her. That little girl understood something that we forget — although Mary was the virgin mother of the Savior, she was still a real

woman with real feelings. 

 

Imagine the emotions Mary must have carried that first Christmas: frustration at those who did not understand that her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit, fear at what Joseph would think, and amazement at the arrival of shepherds from Bethlehem and wise men from the east. The Bible says that after the shepherds came to see the Christ child, Mary treasured these memories in her heart (Luke 2:19).

 

Yes, the birth of Mary’s son was no sideline show. This was the event that ushered the Savior of the world onto the stage of world history. So I must agree with the little girl in the church play — if Mary had had a new red dress, she would have worn it!

 

(Copyright 2010 by Bob Rogers. Email: brogers@fbcrincon.com. Read this column each Friday for a mix of religion and humor. For more “Holy Humor,” visit the Web site of First Baptist Church of Rincon at www.fbcrincon.com.)