"The True Gifts of Christmas" & a Religious Reflection

I have really appreciated being able to look back at this blog and remember what was going on over the years, so if you're still reading all these and hanging in there with me...I'm seriously impressed!  I also feel like I haven't been able to post any "processing" thoughts about life lately.  Hopefully we'll get these events out of the way soon so I can remember what was going on inside of me, not just on the outside!

So in the name of posterity - here's my post about our 4th grade Christmas Concert!  We did a concert themed "The True Gifts of Christmas", and I was really happy about how it ended up. :)  

The Gift of Song - "Sing We Now of Christmas"

The Gift of Light - “Lights of the Season”, xylophones

The Gift of Sounds - “Fum, Fum, Fum”, recorders

The Gift of Color - “Red and Green”, choreography :)

The Gift of Laughter - “Don’t Eat a Poinsettia”, this one was pretty funny!

The Gift of Peace - “Hanukkah is Here”

The Gift of the World - “A Russian Christmas”, recorders

The Gift of Tradition, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

"Sing We Now of Christmas"

"Lights of the Season"

"Fum, Fum, Fum"

"Red and Green"

"Don't Eat a Poinsettia"

"We Wish You a Merry Christmas"

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REFLECTIVE SIDE NOTE: I spent some time really thinking about Christmas/Christianity in public schools this year.  In the past I really didn't think about it, and have never personally had anyone object to me programming fairly religious Christmas songs during the Christmas concert.  I've never programmed that music as a way of proselytizing, but have generally always felt like that music is extremely important to providing a rounded music education.  This year, though, I kept hearing about ridiculous things being taken out of public schools because of their affiliation with Christmas - specifically, I can think of a school in California that banned all poinsettia plants, and another that refused to let anyone talk about Santa Claus.  SERIOUSLY!?

Therefore, (and this might seem like a strange jump at first), I decided to program some Hanukkah songs into my programs.  As I thought about it, it seemed that if I can use (and therefore protect) all religious material, then I could also protect Christmas religious material.  While I think it's wise for religion and the government to be separate, I DON'T think that means they can't co-exist peacefully.  In fact, I think it's fair to say that wiping out religious participation will prove completely counter-productive to government's goals in the long run!  Let's be smart here people!

So, I decided to try...strategically fight for the right to discuss and acknowledge religion in school...and continue fighting the Christian battle for the soul outside of school.

K - stepping off my soap box. :)