Caroling, Caroling

It is Christmastime in Odyssey, and John Whittaker has borrowed an antique sleigh from his old friend Tom Riley for a very special evening. While the horse stamps impatiently in the snow, Connie Kendall hurries the kids through the last of their hot chocolate, and soon everyone piles carefully aboard. Whit asks if their singing voices are all warmed up - they are - and the sleigh glides off with the carolers singing "Here we come a-caroling among the leaves so green" and "Caroling, caroling, through the town, Christmas bells are ringing."

The first stop is Tom Riley's farm. Nobody answers the knock at the house, so Whit leads the kids into the barn, where Tom quietly waves them over. His mare Rachel has just given birth to a fine little colt, and Tom introduces the newborn to Whit, Connie, and the kids as Rachel's son Joseph - little Joe for short. While Russel helps Tom lay down some fresh hay, Whit says he doesn't suppose he is the only one who finds all this appropriate. A birth in a stable - just imagine it. Jesus, our Savior, was born in a place like this one. Gathered around the manger, the carolers sing "Away in a Manger," a carol that calls the shepherds to wake and be the first to kneel at the crib where Christ is sleeping, and "What Child Is This," and Tom thanks them all for coming as the sleigh moves on.

The next stop is the church, where the choir is rehearsing for that night's service, so Whit reminds the kids to come in very quietly. They slip inside as the choir sings "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," and when the song ends Whit greets Dale Jacobs, who is glad they stopped by and asks the carolers to join the choir. Whit answers that, actually, they were hoping the choir would join them - and it does. Together they sing "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Joy to the World."

Then Connie is asked to read, and she tells the Christmas story itself: shepherds keeping guard over their flock by night, an angel of the Lord appearing in blazing splendor, and the wonderful news - "Do not be afraid... This very day in David's town, a Savior has been born for you. He is Christ the Lord." The proof will be a baby, wrapped up and lying in a manger. The singers answer her reading with "O Holy Night," and Connie goes on: a vast host of the armies of heaven praises God, and when the angels return to heaven, the shepherds hurry straight to Bethlehem, where they find Mary and Joseph and the baby in the manger. More songs follow - "Emmanuel... God with us" and "Give thanks with a grateful heart."

Whit himself finishes the story. The shepherds went back to their flocks glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen, and Whit prays that this Christmas, like those shepherds, we may all be filled anew with the wonder and awe of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior. The evening closes with "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and Whit's warm wish to one and all: Merry Christmas, everybody.