The Christ Childs Christmas

The Christ Child’s Christmas

Written by Elke von Schlosser

Illustrated with photographs of life-size figures designed, cut and painted by 
Elke von Schlosser and Harry Fanning

© 2017 Elke von Schlosser

Have you ever felt that sense of magic as Christmas draws near, that unexplainable feeling that something mysterious is about to happen?  You look around and see the same things you always saw, but they now look somehow strangely different. Everything around you seems to have taken on a new look.  The trees that just a few weeks ago were covered with brightly painted leaves now glisten leafless with the morning dew.  The brown earth under your feet is covered with a white veil. The blazing blue autumn sky studded with puffy white clouds is now a sultry grey, and there is a sense of anticipation all around you. Fires are lit in the hearth, wood smoke rises from the chimneys, and everyone seems to sense that something wonderful is about to take place.

Now it was at this magical and wonderful time of year that my grandmother used to tell me about the visit of the Christ Child.  My grandmother had heard it from her own mother, who heard it from her grandmother, and on and on back in time.  It is a very old story.  

My grandmother told me that the Christ Child comes to earth each year at Christmas time, just as he did many years ago, to visit the people of the earth, and bring them his message of love and peace. He comes each year to remind the people of God’s love for them.

Many many years ago, far too many to count, Our Father in heaven created our beautiful world.  He created the sun, moon and stars, and the earth we live on.  He created the fish in the sea and all the animals.  Everything in the heavens and upon the earth lived in perfect harmony, and the Lord saw that what he had created was very good. 

After a while though, Our Heavenly Father got a bit lonely.  He did enjoy watching the stars twinkle in the dark universe, and he liked watching the animals on the earth play and cavort with one another.  He saw how beautiful the mountains were that he had created and the waterfalls that rushed over the cliffs into great rivers.

He enjoyed the beautiful sunrises that each new day brought, and the sunsets that made the earth glow.  But our Heavenly Father wanted to share all this beauty with someone.  
               
He wanted someone to share it with him, and love it just as He loved the earth and all His creation.  He also wanted to have someone to love HIM, not just like a dog or cat loves someone, but with a profound and abiding love that comes from deep within a soul.  He decided that he would create a being that was more like Him, with a soul and heart that could love Him in return, and also to share his beautiful creation with.  And that is when he created the people that inhabit the earth.

Now Our Heavenly Father wanted the people to love Him of their own free will, not because He wanted them to but because they wanted to.  He wanted them to be grateful because He was such a great and wonderful Heavenly Father to them.  He wanted them to love Him back just as He loved them. 

But sadly the people of the earth sometimes forgot to love God back.  They got preoccupied with all the beautiful things He had given them, and forgot where they really came from.  They forgot to love their Heavenly Father and take good care of the beautiful earth and all the wonderful animals on it.  

They became greedy and selfish.  The people of the earth also forgot to trust in their Heavenly Father, and began fighting over the things he had given them.  God made sure there was plenty for everyone but they still fought amongst themselves. This made Him very sad, and even angry.  

Eventually he sent his Son Jesus down to earth to try and make people realize what was really important, which is to love one another and love God.  He sent his Son as a tiny child to bring Gods message of love and peace.  This tiny child was the baby Jesus, who grew up into a man who did many great things, and tried to help the people of the earth to understand how much our Heavenly Father loves us, far more than our own parents, children or friends ever could.

Now my grandmother told me that in a place far far away from here there lives a lively group of Christmas Elves.  All year long they await that exciting time of year just before Christmas, when they scurry about readying things for the arrival of Saint Nicholas and the Christ Child.  
They live in burrows deep in the earth, where they have set up their little toy factories.  
The factories are delightful happy places, where the elves scurry about building and cutting and painting and hammering, making all sorts of delightful gifts for the earth’s children. 

Around about December 6^th which is St. Nicholas Day, the good Saint himself comes out to oversee what the elves are doing.  He carries a big brown sack which he fills with the finished toys in preparation to deliver them to the good children of the earth in time for Christmas with the help of the Christmas Angels.  His sack holds all kinds of wonderful presents and gifts that he has specially chosen for each little boy and girl on the earth.  Of course the children only get what he has chosen for them if they have been good.  
      

Now a Saint is a very special person who has done something really wonderful in their time on earth.  Saint Nicholas was a bishop who lived centuries ago, who was known for his love of children.  There is a famous story of how he left some poor children special gifts that they needed but could not afford for Christmas.  He also did many other wonderful things in his lifetime.

Sometimes God gives Saints (and there are quite a few of them) some special tasks to help the people on earth.  Saint Nicholas has been given the special task of bringing the spirit of Christmas to earth each year, as a reminder of God’s love for us. Saint Nicholas is known in some countries as Santa Claus!

On the first Sunday of Advent the elves make the Christmas pretzels.  They are made out of chocolate and are so delicious.  Each year they have a contest to see who can make the largest chocolate pretzel.  It is great fun but usually ends up with a big mess because the elves sing and dance about wildly, and eventually the giant pretzel breaks and spills chocolate all over the floor.           
                  

Then the elves clean up the mess and make themselves large cups of hot cocoa to enjoy with the pretzel pieces and go to bed early in order to get a good night’s rest and be ready for the next week of Christmas activities. The Christmas elves are funny looking little people.  You can usually tell that they are elves when you spot their red stocking caps.  They wear red caps so that they can spot one another in the deep snow, which surrounds the burrows where they live.

The older wiser elves also have long white beards. They have a lot of work to do to make sure that the younger elves are doing their jobs. 

The younger elves like to frolic and play a lot, and do not always pay attention to what they are supposed to be doing. 

Oftentimes the young elves can be found snoozing under trees, which makes the older elves very mad since there is so much work to do.  

There are always a few young elves sneaking out to take a nap, and with so much to do in such a short time the wise old elves have their hands full chasing after the younger ones.

 Saint Nicholas also relies on the Christmas Angels to let him know who has been naughty and who has been nice. 

The elves are far too busy in their factories deep in the forest to be able to watch how well the earth’s children are behaving.  

The Christmas Angels have a very good vantage point in the clouds from which to watch what is happening below. They can peer over the clouds to see what is going on here on earth.  

Anytime they hear a child shout or behave badly, they peek down to see what is going on.  Of course they also make notes of when children have been especially good, which helps to cancel out the bad behaviors on their record.

  
The Christmas Angels love the earth’s children so much, that they try very hard not to notice when the children are being bad.  They prefer to be able to tell Saint Nicholas that all the children have been behaving very well that year, especially around Christmas time.  If they see that the little girls and boys are trying to help their parents by being polite and cooperative, they are very happy. 

The Elves get a lot of help preparing for Christmas from the Angels, who do their preparations up in the clouds.  There they have all manner of tasks to accomplish before the big holiday arrives.  Christmas Angels come in all shapes and sizes.  There are short ones, thin ones, fat little ones and big round ones who usually are in charge of the baking.  They are big and round because they like to taste all the goodies that come out of the ovens in which they bake the Christmas cookies and make the Christmas candy. 

The steam from their ovens and stoves creates the wispy clouds you see in the sky on winter evenings, and the red light from their oven fires can be seen reflecting off of the clouds at twilight.  In the evening they start to fire up their ovens, which produce a rosy glow on the clouds. Sometimes when they are really busy there is so much steam that it fogs up the fields and towns. In the mornings when the people of the earth wake up, there is fog and mist that has spread all the way down to the earth.

Each Angel is given an assignment to make some special preparation for Christmas.  Some make the decorations for the Christmas trees; some make the Christmas candles, and others are in charge of shaking the snow off of the clouds, so that it will fall to earth and make everything white and beautiful below.  If their ovens get too hot then the snow becomes rain, which is not as nice as snow but the animals and plants like it better as it is not so cold! 

Some of the Angels sing in the heavenly choir, which all the other Angels get to hear while they are cooking and baking and scurrying about. Sometimes the people on earth can hear them singing too! There are many other tasks that the Angels have but they are too numerous to tell. 

Mostly they have a lot of fun even when they are very very busy in the months leading up to Christmas. 

On the second Sunday of Advent, the Christmas Angels have a big cookie baking contest.  All the older Angels line up to sample the recipes of the younger Angel bakers. 

Then a prize is given for the best cookie.  After the prize is awarded all the Angels feast upon the cookie samples until they are quite full.

On the third Sunday of Advent, the children of the elves are now becoming quite excited about Christmas drawing so near.  

They are especially helpful to their mothers and fathers, and try not to fight with their sisters or brothers. They know that their parents have such a lot to do to get everything ready for Christmas Day. 

They do not want to disappoint the children on the earth. They make sure that their warm Christmas overcoats are good and ready for their procession to visit the Christ Child on Christmas Eve.  They help their parents whenever they are asked. They help to wrap the toys in brightly covered packages, and it is a good thing that there are so many elf children, because there are so very many packages to wrap for all the good children of the earth.

When Christmas Eve finally arrives everyone is awaiting the grand procession to the manger of the Christ Child.  

All the elf children put on their warmest overcoats, and their tall galoshes, and get their candles ready for the parade to the manger where the Christ Child will be waiting for them.  

They light their lanterns which are in whimsical shapes of like stars and moons that will light their way through the dark forest to where the Christ Child will be waiting for them.

Deep in the forest the Angels gather with the elves.                  
The Angels will have put all their work aside, and put on their most beautiful blue robes.  
They have combed their hair, and polished up their wings, and washed their rosy and happy faces. 

They come down to earth and sing joyfully together to welcome the Christ Child back to the earth another year. They line up one by one and begin singing beautiful Christmas carols. 

Their voices sing in lovely harmony together.  Animals such as deer, rabbits and tiny birds all come to see what is happening.  They marvel at the lovely procession which quietly moves through the forest, lit only by the glow of candles.  The ice and snow on the tree branches glistens like little Christmas lights and it is a magical scene to behold. 

Finally they see the stable where the Christ Child awaits them in the forest.    Cows, and even a donkey are there watching over him.  A flock of sheep stands nearby, and doves coo in the rafters.  There might even be a couple of hens there.  

Nobody wants to miss this magical event. They can see the Christ Child’s happy little face. 

He laughs and giggles with delight. 

The Christ Child is surrounded by all kinds of animals from the stable.   Of course the Angel Gabriel is there, and also the Angel Michael, who always accompany the Christ Child back to earth for Christmas Eve.   

They are there to watch over him and make sure he stays warm.

The Christ Child is always delighted when he hears from Saint Nicholas’ about how well behaved the children on the earth have been that year.  

He looks at the good Saint’s big brown sack and sees it bulging with all sorts of delightful presents, and he knows that this will be a good Christmas for all. 

Whenever he hears the report that the earths children have tried to behave and obey their parents, the Christ Child smiles and laughs.  He is especially happy to hear when a child has been extra good that year.  It makes him very happy.

When the Angel Michael and Angel Gabriel see that the report from Saint Nicholas is finished, they know that the Christ Child is ready for a good night’s rest. 

They thank all the Angels and elves for a wonderful job they have done in preparation for Christmas. 

Then everyone goes home and takes a long winters nap.

Of course by then it is morning on the earth, and the earth’s children are delighted with their packages and gifts.  They are so excited with all the presents that they sometimes forget to thank the Christ Child for the wonderful gifts he has given them. 

That is when their good mothers and fathers remind them to be thankful, which makes the Christ Child very happy.

And so each year the Christ Child pays a visit to the earth, and each year the elves and Angels come to greet him.                  

 And if you listen carefully outside on Christmas Eve, you might hear them singing somewhere in the far off distance:

“GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, 

AND PEACE TO HIS PEOPLE ON EARTH”

Now some people may say this is only a legend, and some say it is true.  
No one knows for sure.  

There are many mysterious and magical things that we do not know or understand…and so we must BELIEVE.    

And there you have the story of Christmas and the Christ Child as it was told to me by my grandmother so many many years ago…

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