Two From Galilee--The Book, The Musical!

Have you ever read the book Two from Galilee by Marjories Holmes?  It is the Christmas story in an expanded, novel length version!  It tells the love story of Joseph and Mary and how God uses ordinary people in extraordinary ways.

Back in the previous century--perhaps about 1999--we had the privilege of performing in the musical adaptation of the book on stage at the Woodward Arts Theatre to benefit the Domestic Crisis Center. 

We had so much fun, being in a musical as a family.  It made the holiday season especially hectic--we began rehearsals in August and the performance was the week after Thanksgiving (or thereabouts!).  But being immersed in the Christmas Story was worth the work and rush.  Les was the Angel Gabriel, and through out most of the play, the girls and I were just village people (not the YMCA kind).  Of course, the climax of the play was Jesus birth.  All the villagers were on stage, the child performers had been transformed to angels and off to the side was the stable.  Every time we sang "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" and Joseph lifted the baby up into the air to show him off, I was transported back in time for a tiny glimpse of what being present for that miracle could have been like.

The show was so popular that it was brought back to life two years later.  The main cast was a bit different and some of the children were older, but revisiting the music and the story was just as fun the second time around.

This time, Les was Joseph.  We girls kept our same parts even though Molly and Sarah had grown up a bit!

You know, the story never grows old and we loved performing it as much the second time as the first.  And again, when Jesus was born and Joseph lifts him high into the air, tears filled my eyes as I imagined what it could have been like to know that your were chosen to be the earthly parent of the Son of God.

If you haven't read the book, do it!  There is a copy in our church library and I think I have one around here somewhere.  It will certainly get you in the right frame of mind for the Holy Day Season.