Star-Filled Grace

• Publisher: Wild Goose Publications
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781849524452
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Religious Ecumenism & Interfaith

A Star-Filled Grace offers resources on beloved Advent and Christmas themes for churches, ministers, study groups and individuals at a time when there is a genuine interest in fresh ways of telling the Christmas stories. In poetry, liturgy and narrative, Rachel Mann questions the cosy and sentimental view of the festive season and takes seriously the idea that God in Christ is born as a vulnerable outsider who transforms the world in radical ways. Intended to be usable in a wide range of liturgical and study contexts, this book revisits biblical voices, characters and stories with a sophistication and simplicity that speaks to readers from a diversity of theological and spiritual perspectives. Rachel Mann is an Anglican parish priest, broadcaster and writer. She is resident poet and minor canon at Manchester Cathedral. Her work is widely published, including two previous books, The Risen Dust and Dazzling Darkness.

PLAYS, MEDITATIONS & REFLECTIONS

One of the things I remember fondly from growing up in the UK in the 1970s is nativity plays. They provided an opportunity for the talented and the untalented to dress up in tea towels and sheets and retell the birth stories of Jesus. I was lucky if I ever got to play second donkey, but they were a crucial part of getting me into drama and writing in later life.

Nativity plays are stereotyped as opportunities for parents to ‘coo’ and ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over their wee ones treading the boards for the first time. They are wrapped up in layers of sentimentality and no one especially minds if the acting is terrible or the bairns go off script. In recent years, schools have been accused of watering down the religious elements. Indeed, due to the understandable desire to include as many children as possible, characters as ‘non-contextual’ as Superman, Bob the Builder and the Minions have crept in.

The small number of plays, dramas and narratives offered here are suitable for wide audiences. They belong broadly to the genre of nativity play. As such, they are not dependent on high levels of skill and are very much intended to give scope to actors of all abilities. But they are not intended as sentimental. They attempt to bring out the toughness and lived reality that lies behind our stories of the Christ. Having said that, they are also meant to be fun!

As a preacher and spiritual director I’ve long been fascinated by sermons and meditations and everything in between. The best sermons and meditations can pack an extraordinary power into relatively few words. They are compelling pointers towards God, but they can also be meeting points with the living God.

In all sorts of ways I know ‘the sermon’ is dead. We are in the midst of a profoundly visual culture and there’s probably not a lot of interest left in the kind of short meditations and reflections contained at the end of the book. However, I still believe that the written word is powerful and there is space and unique value in trying to follow a line of thought in written form. The meditations and sermons presented here are intended as leaping-off points for further reflection and challenges to comfortable patterns of thought.

Perhaps the ‘cuckoo in the nest’ is the essay entitled ‘A Tonka Toy Christmas’. It has appeared in print before, in various forms, firstly in Nicola Slee and Rosie Miles’ Doing December Differently and then in my theological memoir, Dazzling Darkness. Nonetheless, I think it bears repeating. It is a stand-alone piece and a reminder of how challenging Christmas can be for those who don’t fit its normative patterns. Nonetheless, I trust it contains a seam of hope which reminds us that Christmas is a feast which is defined, at its deepest, by its divergence from convention. That it is the queerest festival in Christianity.

OH WHAT A NIGHT!

A light-hearted version of the nativity, with serious intent. This can work well with all ages, but depends on skilled and committed delivery. It can be used as a springboard for group discussion about the implications of Nativity in a modern context.

Cast of characters

Joseph – A young man

Mary – A young and very pregnant woman

Stan – A homeless man

Helen – A prostitute

P.J. – Helen’s boyfriend. A heroin user.

A crowd of revellers

SCENE 1

Loud music plays.

A GROUP OF REVELLERS stagger into view, perhaps covered in streamers, carrying beer-cans.

They start chanting the name of the local town/city e.g. ’Manchester, Manchester, Manchester …’ in a beery fashion, and fall about laughing.

They stagger on a bit, then start singing ‘Last Christmas I gave you my heart …’ in a suitably drunken manner.

Enter MARY AND JOSEPH.

Joseph carries a suitcase. Both look haggard and harassed, Mary especially.

One of the drunken revellers accidentally bumps into Mary, but seems to ignore her.

Joseph:	Oi, watch it! She’s pregnant.
	The revellers seem to take no notice and move offstage.
Joseph:	People today! Just got no manners. (Joseph ‘trawls’ his throat, and ‘gobs’ on the floor.)
Mary:	Oh, forget it. Let’s just find somewhere to stay. And, Joseph, will you stop spitting in the street. It’s disgusting.
	Behind Mary’s back, Joseph pulls a face that indicates he feels nagged. He stops when Mary turns to him.
Mary:	Look, I think there are some hotels over there. Come on.
	Mary and Joseph mime knocking on doors, talking to hoteliers, negotiating a place to stay, constantly being turned away. Mary should become increasingly angry/frustrated; Joe should become more and more despondent/depressed. After a few tries they sit down in the street.
Mary:	I just don’t believe this. Everywhere’s full, and when you ask ‘Why?’, they just say ‘Don’t you know it’s Christmas?’ Whatever that is. I mean, what with that and this damn census we’ll never get anywhere. (Towards Joseph, with real venom) It’s all your fault, this! Why couldn’t you have been born somewhere closer to home? But, no, you have to be born a 100 miles from the nearest civilised town …
Joseph:	(Glumly) Aw, [local town/city] isn’t that bad …
Mary:	And what’s worse is we could’ve got a room if that pathetic car of yours hadn’t broken down five miles from town and left us to walk. Huh, car! I say ‘car’, if that’s what you call a 1972 Ford Cortina with furry dice in the window …
Joseph:	It’s a classic, that is.
Mary:	It’s a pile of scrap. When the AA man turned up, he laughed, said, ‘I’m not in the comedy business,’ and cleared off. And then, to cap it all, here I am like a beached whale …
Joseph:	You said it.
Mary:	What?
Joseph:	Nothing.
Mary:	So here I am ready to pop a sprog at any moment, with only ‘Mr Waste of Space 20__’ for company. It’s about time you did something!
	Mary puts her head into her hands.
Joseph:	(Directly to the audience) I know she thinks I’m a fool, but she’s no idea how much I love her. Or how scared I am. I just don’t know what’s going on. I know I’m not the baby’s dad, but what am I supposed to do when Mary says the kid’s dad is God. What kind of talk is that? I just know I love her and I want to be there for her. And the kid.
	Joseph puts his head into his hands.
Mary:	(Directly to the audience) I know I shouldn’t take it out on him, but I’m so scared. He probably thinks I hate him, but if only he knew. I love him. I’m just so confused. I couldn’t believe it at first – that God would give me a child. I didn’t even want one. I mean, I’m still at school, I want a career. And then I got pregnant. With God’s kid! Except no one believed me. But Joseph was there for me. And now we need to find somewhere to stay or this kid’s going to be born on the street.
	Mary and Joseph look at each other in a loving way, and collapse into each other’s arms. At which point Mary goes into labour.
Mary:	Oh my God, it’s starting. Joseph, it’s starting. It’s starting! Joseph! DO SOMETHING!!!
Joseph:	Right, yes, right! Um … (Joseph gets up in a fumbling manner; starts running up and down, talking to (imaginary) passers-by, trying to elicit help.) Look, I wonder if you could … would you? Look, there’s a pregnant woman here who needs help … why won’t anyone help? HEEELLLPPP!!!!! (beat) I know! I’ll call an ambulance. (Joseph fumbles for his mobile phone, but can’t find it) Where’s my phone? I can’t find my phone. Damn, I bet it’s still in the car. (Joseph mimes talking to ‘passers-by’ again) Can I borrow your phone? Please, please … Damn it, why won’t anyone help? (To Mary) Just wait here. I’ll find a pay phone. I’ll be back in a minute …
Mary:	(In serious pain) No, Joseph, no! Don’t leave me … I’m scared … ooh, I think it’s coming … just get me off the street.
	Joseph begins to help Mary to her feet.
	Enter STAN
Stan:	Here, let me …
Mary:	(Not fully aware of Stan’s presence) Yeugh, what’s that smell?
Joseph:	(Defensively) I’ve done nothing!
Stan:	Come on, let’s get her off the street.
Mary:	(Becoming aware of Stan) Yeugh, who’s this? God, is it a dosser? (Mary has a new contraction) Oh no, it’s COMING!!
Stan:	(To Joseph) Look, let’s get her off the street. I’ve got a place down this alley. We’ll sort her out from there.
Joseph:	Well …
Stan:	We’ve no time to argue … Come on!
	They help Mary offstage – behind, e.g., a screen. The remaining dialogue in this scene takes place offstage.
Joseph:	So where’s your place, then?
Stan:	This is it.
Joseph:	It’s a cardboard box and some newspapers.
Stan:	It’s all I’ve got.
Mary:	(Shouting in pained anger) When you two have finished talking about home furnishings, could you get your butts down here and give me a hand. This thing is going to come out any minute …
Joseph:	Oh God, I think I’m going to faint …

SCENE 2

The back alley of the previous scene now takes centre stage. There is a cardboard box and papers strewn everywhere. Mary sits, exhausted but happy, against the wall, cradling her baby. (The baby is wrapped in a top/jumper.) Joseph sits next to her, ‘coochicooing’ over the tot. Stan stands, looking about him.

Stan:	(Almost to himself) We should get the baby and mother to a hospital.
	Joseph overhears this, gets shaken out of his doting, and stands to talk to Stan.
Joseph:	Look, I don’t know how to thank you … don’t even know your name …
Stan:	Stan.
Joseph:	Er, Joseph … (They shake hands; then Joseph, visibly losing his reservations, hugs...