The Living Advent Wreath
Drama
Come All Ye Faithful
Three Christmas Plays
Object:
Material Used Through Five Weeks
The Living Advent Wreath
Note
Pilgrim and Guide have minimal singing parts. Attendant carries the candlelighter and lights the candles in the Advent wreath each week. Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust, representing the four candles of the Advent wreath, enter one per week, then remain through the final weeks. They have mostly singing parts. Mary, Joseph, and Infant have nonspeaking parts and are seated behind a curtain in the final week of presentation.
Cast
Pilgrim
Guide
Attendant
Faith
Hope
Love
Trust (three people)
Mary
Joseph
Infant
Props
Brown "leaves"
Bare tree
Empty sack
Candlelighter
Advent wreath with candles
Scrolls
Model of the nativity
Star
Flower
Heart
Costumes
Faith wears a purple robe or shirt with the sun on it
Hope wears a purple robe or shirt with the moon on it
Love wears a pink robe or shirt with stars on it
Trust (three people) wears purple robes or shirts with the magi symbols on them
Pilgrim, Guide, and Attendant wear appropriate clothing
Mary, Joseph, and Infant should be as characters in the nativity
Music
The music is provided in this book and will be used throughout this play.
Week 1
First Week of Advent
Faith: Purple Candle of the Sun
The Living Advent Wreath
(Brown leaves are strewn over the floor. There is a bare tree. Pilgrim enters carrying an empty sack.)
Pilgrim: (picks up leaf and allows it to fall) There is nothing here. I have traveled many miles on an errand of the king, and so far I have found nothing to take back to him. There is nothing in this bag. There is nothing in my heart.
(Guide, Attendant, and Faith enter. Faith, the first candle of the living Advent wreath, bears a mark of the sun. Attendant, who will light the Advent candles, carries the candlelighter.)
Guide: You look a sight! Greetings, Pilgrim!
Pilgrim: (startled) Who are you?
Guide: I am a citizen of this far country, where you seem to find yourself a stranger. And I am a guide to all strangers who find their way here. Are you in need of a guide?
Pilgrim: I'm in need of something. My bag is empty.
Guide: And so is your heart. (reassures Pilgrim) No, I can't read minds. I heard you speaking aloud. That is why I came forward.
Pilgrim: Perhaps you can help me.
Guide: Tell me how.
Pilgrim: I have come from a far country. I have come from the king.
Guide: I know.
Pilgrim: How could you know?
Guide: (smiles) Every country is far from here. That is why we call this place the Far Country. And every country far from here has a king. What does your king desire? Why are you sent?
Pilgrim: Not long ago, but long ago because of my travels, I was standing in the court of our king when he complained.
Guide: What is his complaint?
Pilgrim: Actually, he has five complaints. We were all standing in the court one day when he did not show up. Normally he arrives with his great retinue. There is a great deal of pageantry when he arrives on the scene.
Guide: (softly) Isn't there always?
Pilgrim: Pardon me?
Guide: For what?
Pilgrim: I meant, what did you say? I couldn't hear you.
Guide: Then you must say what you mean. I am not surprised that your king likes pageantry. It is the way this world's kings inflate their self-importance.
Pilgrim: Our king is very important!
Guide: Of course he is. They all are.
Pilgrim: Don't you people have a king?
Guide: Most certainly! He is a powerful king.
Pilgrim: Where is he?
Guide: He is not here yet. He is coming. We are waiting!
Pilgrim: I don't understand.
Guide: Yet, you will. But you were telling me your king arrives with pageantry.
Pilgrim: Yes. He is preceded by fifteen wise men. How many precede your king?
Guide: Three. But they haven't arrived yet.
Pilgrim: Then how can they serve your king?
Guide: He hasn't arrived yet. But he will. Now, please, please, tell me more.
Pilgrim: Yes. The fifteen wise men. Then ladies of the court. Twenty of them. Sometimes thirty. And minstrels, playing lute and lyre, harp and viol, and singing his praises. Finally, the children of the kingdom, ten of them selected from among the best behaved, come before him dropping flower petals. And then the king himself arrives to take his throne to a great fanfare of trumpets. And so it goes all the day long. Every action, every word, is preceded by a great pageant as people of great significance and magnificence perform exact and exacting ceremonies all around him. It is a great and glorious sight!
Guide: It sounds impressive -- after a fashion. But something must be wrong. Something must have happened.
Pilgrim: Yes, yes. That is why I am here. On a day not long ago, the wise men arrived, and the ladies of the court, and the minstrels singing his praises, and the children tossing their flower petals. Musicians blew the trumpets. But nothing happened. There was no king. He did not arrive.
Guide: What did you do?
Pilgrim: Nothing at first. We stood there, silent, afraid to move. But, at last, one of the children spoke. The child said ...
Attendant: The king is ill. Come to the king's bed.
Pilgrim: (amazed) How did you know that?
Attendant: (shrugs) That's the way kings talk.
Guide: So what did you do then?
Pilgrim: We ran to the king, all of us -- wise men, ladies, minstrels, children, and all the people of the court, all the courtiers. The grand ones and the bland ones. The tall ones and the small ones. The great ones and the late ones. We burst into the king's chambers and found him lying in bed, barely able to move. We asked him to rise. We begged him to rise. We pled with him. But, he was unable to rise. So we asked him what was wrong. He said, "I have five complaints, five woes that have laid me low. The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. It seems to me that there is no hope. And this thought lays me low. Is there anyone who will contradict me? Is there anyone who will cheer me?"
Guide: And what did people say?
Pilgrim: What could they say? We are so used to agreeing with the king that, at first, no one said anything. And as he spoke, we all felt the darkness. Then the king pointed to me. He told me to take a bag and travel to a far country and find five things to answer his five complaints. His five woes. The world is dying. The world is dark. The world ...
Guide: Yes, the world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. (pauses, as if thinking) Perhaps we can help you. Look all around you. What do you see that is living?
Pilgrim: (picks up a brown leaf) What can I see? The leaf is dead. The tree is dead.
Guide: (laughs) No, no, no. The leaf is not dead. It is fallen, and it will give life. The tree is not dead. This is autumn and it has begun its long and deep winter's sleep. We are so obsessed with dying that we forget there is a blessing. During autumn and winter, we come to a standstill. The snow covers the earth with a blanket, and nature rests. But never forget that the memory of spring is hidden in the bulbs planted deep beneath the surface of the earth. You can't see the bulbs, but when the spring returns and the hungry sun wakes the ground then the bulbs will send forth the flowers and life returns. We are waiting for a certain future of bounty and love. The world is not dead. The world is alive. Hope is alive.
Pilgrim: How can hope be alive?
Guide: Have faith.
(Faith steps forward to take the place of the first candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the candle on the altar's Advent wreath.)
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: I see! I see! Here is one thing I can bring back to the king. Let me dig up a bulb and take it back to him.
Guide: If you dig up the bulb, it will never flower.
Pilgrim: Then what can I show the king?
Guide: Take the king your faith. Trust the sun. Trust in faith. Your bag must remain empty, but take this wisdom back with you: "... faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Pilgrim: (repeats slowly) "... faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (pauses) So the world is not dying. That answers one of the king's questions. But how about the others? That the world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war.
Guide: Please -- let faith give you hope. Take rest now. Come to the castle.
Pilgrim: What castle?
Guide: Look with the eyes of faith. It is just beyond that hill. Rest there. And come back. Come back again, and we will see what we can do about your other complaints. For now, think on faith, and have hope.
Faith: (sings once more)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
The End
Week 2
Second Week of Advent
Hope: Purple Candle of the Moon
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim enters to find Faith in the living Advent wreath. Pilgrim still carries the empty bag.)
Pilgrim: Are you still here? Where is the Guide?
(Guide enters with Attendant and Hope. Hope, the second candle of the living Advent wreath, bears the mark of the Moon. Attendant carries the candlelighter.)
Guide: Here I am! Pilgrim, I am glad you have returned.
Pilgrim: I had to. Thanks to you, I have faith. I have faith that even as winter approaches, the sun will return.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Guide: And you remember what I said about faith?
Pilgrim: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Yes, I remember. I have thought on those words. But still, I think of my king, the king in a country far away, who lies dying in his bed because of his fears.
Guide: Do you think he is truly dying?
Pilgrim: He seemed most heart struck to me!
Guide: Then why did he not come himself, do you suppose?
Pilgrim: Kings don't go on their own errands. They send others for them.
Guide: (laughs) I am forgetting. We are speaking about the kings of the world again. It is very hard for them to come and to go, to fetch and to carry, and to bear for many ...
Pilgrim: What sort of king comes on his own? What would people think of such a king?
Guide: What would they think, indeed.
Pilgrim: You know, I have looked for your king. I have asked after your king. But everyone in the castle seems to know the king, yet has not seen him.
Guide: We have faith. And our king is different than any other. Our king is coming.
Pilgrim: How do you know?
Guide: How can we not know? Look around you.
Pilgrim: I have looked around. And so has our king. That is why he was brought low. He said, "The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war." Now you have taught me the world is not dying. But still, the world is dark. The sun is visible less and less each day. The sun sets earlier and earlier, rises later and later. The world is dark. And my bag is still empty.
Guide: Yes, your bag. Your king asked you to bring back five things.
Pilgrim: Five things to answer his complaints. To prove to him the world is not dying, the world is not dark, the world is not lost, the world is not skeptical, and the world is not war. You have taught me that the world is not dying, yet you forbid me from taking a bulb from beneath the earth in order to prove to the king that there is hope. All I have is a song.
Guide: But if you took the bulb you would have neither spring nor hope. Yet, your hope is weak. We must build it up. The sun is setting and the world seems dark. So look to the sky -- see the bright moon!
(Hope steps forward to take the place of the second candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the first and second candles in the altar's Advent wreath.)
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Guide: Do you hear hope in the moon's song? Is the world still dark?
Pilgrim: (falters) Well, yes, and honestly -- no! The moon is bright tonight. But what of other nights? The moon is not constant like the sun. The moon comes and goes, and is brighter and darker, setting early or rising late.
Guide: The moon is like our king. The king comes and goes as he pleases. He is not tame. He is not ours to control. How we would love to stand in his light always, yet there are times he seems distant, or even hidden. But that is the way of real kings.
Pilgrim: The moon is your king?
Guide: (gently corrects) No, the moon is like our king. Yet nothing is like our king.
Pilgrim: And what sign can I take back to my king of this? If I cannot take the bulb with me to assure my king the world is not dying, what sign can I take that the world is not dark?
Guide: Look beneath your feet. What do you see?
Pilgrim: Nothing.
Guide: If what you see beneath your feet is nothing, then nothing is everywhere. Look again.
Pilgrim: I am standing on the earth.
Guide: What could be more solid and reassuring than the earth. The dark earth, the loam, the deep earth, where roots take hold that flowers may climb to the sun, where tall trees dig deep to drink of deeper springs?
Pilgrim: (bends down to scoop up earth into his bag) Then I simply have to fill my bag with the earth ...
Guide: (interrupts) Why? The earth is everywhere. It is here. It is past that hill. It is in your far country. It is a gift to all people everywhere from our king. You need only dig in your own country when you return. The ancient story of the earth is told and retold, and even when the moon sets and all seems dark, the earth provides cushion enough for our dreams.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Guide: Take rest yourself. Return to the castle. And later, return to me that I may answer your other concerns. For now, know that the world is not dying, the world is not truly dark. After all, even the dark is blessed and becomes a place of sleep. God is present in times of darkness. Hope is renewed again and again, by faith. After all, you don't control God.
Pilgrim: I thought you said it was your king who cannot be controlled.
Guide: Take your rest, Pilgrim. And return! In the meantime, remember these words: "For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness" (Galatians 5:5).
Pilgrim: (repeats) For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Guide: For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Pilgrim: Faith and hope are tied together?
Guide: With love....
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
The End
Week 3
Third Week of Advent
Love: Pink Candle of the Stars
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim is standing on stage holding his empty bag. Guide enters with Love, the third candle of the living Advent wreath, who bears the mark of the Stars. Attendant, who is carrying the candlelighter to light the candles also enters. Faith and Hope enter and take their places in the living Advent wreath.)
Guide: I'm here!
Pilgrim: (sheepishly) I'm here, too. I guess I wanted to see you enter, to see if you would be faithful.
Guide: (smiles) You are not the first pilgrim who has come to our Far Country, looking for Faith and Hope, seeking reassurance. I trust your stay at the castle has been comfortable?
Pilgrim: Yes, but it has been puzzling, as well.
Guide: In what way?
Pilgrim: Everything seems orderly. Everyone seems to live under the leadership of a king. They all know their places and rejoice in their places.
Guide: And what is odd about that?
Pilgrim: Only this -- that there is no king that I can see. And when I question my hosts about their king, they seem not at all alarmed about the fact that they have never seen their king, yet seem sure that he exists.
Guide: They have faith.
Pilgrim: Is faith enough?
Guide: And what did I tell you?
Pilgrim: That faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen.
Guide: Exactly. And what of hope?
Pilgrim: That through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Guide: Very good.
Pilgrim: If that is good enough for you, then why is it not good enough for my king and our people? My king was lying ill in his bed, certain that the world is dying, the world is dark, and the world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war.
Guide: And that is why you carry that bag -- to bring back five things for your king to assure him he is wrong.
Pilgrim: Exactly -- except that while you have demonstrated that there is hope in the bulbs hidden in the earth, and strength in the earth itself, you have given me nothing to take back as proof of the things you have taught me.
Guide: Your words will be enough, or nothing will be enough.
Pilgrim: I hope so. Yet, when I consider the depravity we witness, the cruelty of people toward each other, the dashing to dreams and the strength of evil, certainly it seems that the world is lost.
Guide: The world is not lost. People are lost.
Pilgrim: That is worse, isn't it?
Guide: The lost can be saved. You can reach them. Listen to these words of wisdom ...
Pilgrim: Will you have me look down again? Twice you have directed my attention earthward, first to the hidden bulb, which I cannot see, and then to the earth itself, which I cannot lift, nor can I take it with me. What is left earthward for me to take hope from?
Guide: No, I would direct your gaze heavenward. The sun has retreated. The moon is setting. Now look to the beacon stars and remember these words: "You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19).
(Love steps forward to take the place of the third candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the first, second, and third candles in the altar's Advent wreath.)
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Guide: The world only seems lost. There is the Sun of Faith, the Moon of Hope, and the Stars that are beacons of God's Love. The stars give guidance to the sailors at see. The stars guide those who are escaping the lash and traveling to freedom. Though the stars seem to be small, scattered lights, together they form patterns, and change the way we look at the void so that stories emerge, and with the stories, the assurance that God is unchanging, and will come again and again through the seasons of life. The stars, and this star, are a symbol of God's Love, which will not abandon the people!
Pilgrim: (crestfallen) Love. Is that all? What can love do, really, against the cruelty of the world?
Guide: You are confusing love with weakness. Love seems soft only to those who do not know it. But it is hard as nails -- the nails that are pounded into wood. Love is bright as fire -- the fire that sweeps away the brush accumulated over decades so that seeds become saplings and new trees can take root. Love is not afraid to die, but never for gain and only for others.
Pilgrim: But once again, what can I bring back? Simply the words you taught me?
Guide: You could do worse. Those words are ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) You would do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Guide: I have said that a star is a beacon. It shines brightly, faithfully over centuries. The stories that the people tell about the patterns they see in the stars are stories that do not die. Listen ...
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: So you give me no star to place in my bag?
Guide: No. Like love itself, a star is too hot to contain or control. God's love burns fiercely, tearing away the illusions we share and cutting to the core of God's plan for our lives. But when you return home to your king, you will see the exact same stars in the sky. And you may point to this special star, which shines more brightly than any other -- for it is a herald of something greater.
Love: (speaks) "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judea, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).
Pilgrim: What does that mean?
Guide: Come once more, and you will find the answer to your king's fourth concern -- for this star is a beacon that beckons to many far off, who will soon be near. And know that this star endures. Many will see it who never laid eyes on it, and will treasure its beauty although it will be hidden to their generation. But you are blessed -- and know this about faith, hope, and love. They will abide, though everything else fails. And the greatest of these is ...
Pilgrim: Love, I imagine.
Guide: It is not your imagination. It is truth.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
The End
Week 4
Fourth Week of Advent
Trust: Purple Candle of the Magi
The Living Advent Wreath
(Faith, Hope, Love, and Attendant, carrying candlelighter, enter. Trust, comprised of three people representing the magi, also enters.)
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seen gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
(Pilgrim enters with the empty bag at the same time Guide enters, but from different sides of the stage.)
Pilgrim: Faithful guide!
Guide: Pilgrim of faith!
Pilgrim: It is no longer any great task to see you and find you.
Guide: But your bag is no heavier.
Pilgrim: Still, my heart is lighter.
Guide: What will your king say? You were sent by an ailing king to bring back five things to answer his five woes -- the world is ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. Those are the woes that trouble him. And troubled me.
Guide: No longer?
Pilgrim: What have you shown me? That the world is not dying, but resting, sleeping, waiting for a great awakening.
Guide: And not the bulbs only, waiting for the spring, but all of creation, waiting for our king to appear.
Pilgrim: You have taught me faith, though you gave me nothing for my bag.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: And though all seems dark, yet even at night there is the moon to cast blue shadows upon the earth itself, which is a thing of story. That gives me hope.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Guide: And though the world seems lost ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) Yet there is love, more powerful than thunder and lightning, more irresistible than the movement of continents, more gentle than the fall of a snowflake, more certain than, well, even faith and hope. Like a star in the heavens, love beckons above the storms of life that rage all about us.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Pilgrim: So I am satisfied, even if there are no answers to a skeptical world, to a world at war. Perhaps some ills cannot be changed.
Guide: So you are content to return, even without the fulfillment of your mission?
Pilgrim: Surely faith, hope, and love are enough.
Guide: Perhaps they are. Yet, there is persistence. Even against the sneer of a skeptical world.
Pilgrim: So what sort of answers can we give to those who are not believers?
Guide: First we must not give up on such people. "God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable" (Isaiah 40:28). "So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
Pilgrim: Are these words of wisdom also from your sages?
Guide: Some people have no persistence. They will not endure in the face of what seems at first to be failure. But God is persistent, though we turn our hearts and faces from him again and again. He forgives us, seven times seventy times, and again beyond that.
Pilgrim: That is good for the creator. But who in this world shares this persistence? Who will risk all when the world scoffs?
Guide: There are those who, with only the possibility that they will see the end of God's good plan, set out in trust. Look! Here are the ones who are wise, though others consider them fools. They are the magi. They are Trust.
(Attendant lights the first, second, third, and fourth Advent candles in the Advent wreath on the altar.)
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Trust: (speaks) We have traveled far, following the star, knowing that it leads us to the great king, the king all people seek. Our journey is nearly ended, and soon our hearts will be satisfied. But even if we are not vindicated in the eyes of others, we would still follow the star. We trust in God's goodness and glory. We trust in God's plan.
Pilgrim: (laughs) There is no way they will fit into my bag. The bag will remain empty. But I no longer care. I have my answer for a skeptical world. And if there is no answer to a world at war, I cannot be faulted for having traveled so far and learned so much.
Guide: Do not give up on your quest, yet! Come once more from the castle and you will learn one more thing. Bring your bag -- and prepare to set out for home.
Pilgrim: Still, I doubt that you can do much about the wars and the rumors of war. They will always be among us.
Guide: What did I teach you? God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28).
Pilgrim: (finishes) So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
The End
Week 5
Christmas Eve
The Manger: White Candle of Peace
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim and Guide enter together, followed by Faith, Hope, Love, Trust, and Attendant, who is carrying a candlelighter. Pilgrim still carries his empty bag. The curtain is closed and behind it is the manger with Mary, Joseph, and Infant.)
Pilgrim: I thank you, Guide, for all you have done for me. I came here hopeless, and now I hope to bring hope, along with faith, trust, and love to the king who sent me.
Guide: Your king had five woes -- the world is dying, the world is dark, the world is lost, the world is skeptical, and the world is war.
Pilgrim: (laughs) And he gave me this sack to fill with five things to answer his five woes. My sack is as empty as ever, but not my heart.
Guide: What have you learned, Pilgrim, in Far Country?
Pilgrim: The world is not dying. It lives. I can see the tree has grown even as we have met! Even when it is sleeping, there is hope for the spring! As long as we have faith.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: The world is not dark. Even when the sun is gone, there is the light of the moon, constantly inconstant, yet bringing hope in dark places.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Pilgrim: The world is not lost. Not while there is love. Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. Certainly you were right when you said that faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and that the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:4, 13).
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Pilgrim: Knowing the love of God helps us to trust -- to follow the beacon, the star, the shining city on the hill, no matter what the skeptics might say.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Pilgrim: So, I am content now. There is no answer that can be given in the face of a world at war. The search for peace is useless. We must make our separate peace and hope it is enough with life's dangers all around us.
Guide: Are you sure?
Pilgrim: Each time I have visited you there has been another candle to light and another song to sing. But there is no new singer here. Only Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust. I do not see Peace.
Guide: Yet, we have peace -- and the promise of peace for all. That is why our wisest words remind us that, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -- on them light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2).
Pilgrim: (looks around) I don't see this peace.
Guide: Soon all will see it. "For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:5-6). And, Pilgrim, we have this peace!
Pilgrim: (a light is dawning) So you are Peace?
Guide: No, I only point to it. Pilgrim, come to the manger. (curtain opens and reveals the manger with Mary, Joseph, and Infant) Come to the manger!
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
Guide: Yes, yes, all is folly. We proclaim the king of peace, yet few believe in the king, and none see peace. Yet that king is surely coming. We have faith. We have hope. We share love. And we have the testimony of the wise men of the ages.
(Attendant lights all five Advent candles.)
Love, Hope, Faith, and Trust: (sing)
Come to the manger, ye hopeless and tired.
Shed all your cares with your greed.
Though in the wiles of worldliness mired
You may be lost -- come -- be freed.
God has supplied what we need.
(Each person sings a line of the song)
Love: Love like a star, is a beacon, fair stranger,
Hope: Hope will not lead you astray.
Faith: Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Trust: The star in the East lights the way!
All: Worship the king on this day!
Guide: "His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:7). So here is your real king, the one you must truly serve. Your worldly king is but a shadow. Here is your heart's desire. Here is your home.
Pilgrim: What difference can a baby make? And certainly I cannot take this babe back to my king!
Love, Hope, Faith, and Trust: (sing)
Come to the manger, ye hopeless and tired.
Shed all your cares with your greed.
Though in the wiles of worldliness mired
You may be lost -- come -- be freed.
God has supplied what we need.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Guide: The baby has his own path to follow. Tabernacle and temple, God is in motion. God is not still, and God is among us. There is a garden that he will weep in, a cross for him to carry, and a tomb where he will be glorified. You cannot take him with you, but you can follow him. It is not safe to do so, but it is glorious. And through him there will be peace.
"In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it,
Faith: "and many nations will come and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Hope: "He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
Love: "but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid;
Trust: "for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken" (Micah 4:1-4).
Guide: Come all ye faithful.
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Guide: Take a look in your bag, Pilgrim. If you can lift it!
Pilgrim: My bag! It is full.
(Pilgrim looks within and his bag is full. There are scrolls, a model of the Nativity, a star, a flower, and a heart.)
Guide: Do not be afraid; for see -- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
Pilgrim: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors! Come all ye faithful! Let us worship our king.
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
The End
The Living Advent Wreath
Note
Pilgrim and Guide have minimal singing parts. Attendant carries the candlelighter and lights the candles in the Advent wreath each week. Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust, representing the four candles of the Advent wreath, enter one per week, then remain through the final weeks. They have mostly singing parts. Mary, Joseph, and Infant have nonspeaking parts and are seated behind a curtain in the final week of presentation.
Cast
Pilgrim
Guide
Attendant
Faith
Hope
Love
Trust (three people)
Mary
Joseph
Infant
Props
Brown "leaves"
Bare tree
Empty sack
Candlelighter
Advent wreath with candles
Scrolls
Model of the nativity
Star
Flower
Heart
Costumes
Faith wears a purple robe or shirt with the sun on it
Hope wears a purple robe or shirt with the moon on it
Love wears a pink robe or shirt with stars on it
Trust (three people) wears purple robes or shirts with the magi symbols on them
Pilgrim, Guide, and Attendant wear appropriate clothing
Mary, Joseph, and Infant should be as characters in the nativity
Music
The music is provided in this book and will be used throughout this play.
Week 1
First Week of Advent
Faith: Purple Candle of the Sun
The Living Advent Wreath
(Brown leaves are strewn over the floor. There is a bare tree. Pilgrim enters carrying an empty sack.)
Pilgrim: (picks up leaf and allows it to fall) There is nothing here. I have traveled many miles on an errand of the king, and so far I have found nothing to take back to him. There is nothing in this bag. There is nothing in my heart.
(Guide, Attendant, and Faith enter. Faith, the first candle of the living Advent wreath, bears a mark of the sun. Attendant, who will light the Advent candles, carries the candlelighter.)
Guide: You look a sight! Greetings, Pilgrim!
Pilgrim: (startled) Who are you?
Guide: I am a citizen of this far country, where you seem to find yourself a stranger. And I am a guide to all strangers who find their way here. Are you in need of a guide?
Pilgrim: I'm in need of something. My bag is empty.
Guide: And so is your heart. (reassures Pilgrim) No, I can't read minds. I heard you speaking aloud. That is why I came forward.
Pilgrim: Perhaps you can help me.
Guide: Tell me how.
Pilgrim: I have come from a far country. I have come from the king.
Guide: I know.
Pilgrim: How could you know?
Guide: (smiles) Every country is far from here. That is why we call this place the Far Country. And every country far from here has a king. What does your king desire? Why are you sent?
Pilgrim: Not long ago, but long ago because of my travels, I was standing in the court of our king when he complained.
Guide: What is his complaint?
Pilgrim: Actually, he has five complaints. We were all standing in the court one day when he did not show up. Normally he arrives with his great retinue. There is a great deal of pageantry when he arrives on the scene.
Guide: (softly) Isn't there always?
Pilgrim: Pardon me?
Guide: For what?
Pilgrim: I meant, what did you say? I couldn't hear you.
Guide: Then you must say what you mean. I am not surprised that your king likes pageantry. It is the way this world's kings inflate their self-importance.
Pilgrim: Our king is very important!
Guide: Of course he is. They all are.
Pilgrim: Don't you people have a king?
Guide: Most certainly! He is a powerful king.
Pilgrim: Where is he?
Guide: He is not here yet. He is coming. We are waiting!
Pilgrim: I don't understand.
Guide: Yet, you will. But you were telling me your king arrives with pageantry.
Pilgrim: Yes. He is preceded by fifteen wise men. How many precede your king?
Guide: Three. But they haven't arrived yet.
Pilgrim: Then how can they serve your king?
Guide: He hasn't arrived yet. But he will. Now, please, please, tell me more.
Pilgrim: Yes. The fifteen wise men. Then ladies of the court. Twenty of them. Sometimes thirty. And minstrels, playing lute and lyre, harp and viol, and singing his praises. Finally, the children of the kingdom, ten of them selected from among the best behaved, come before him dropping flower petals. And then the king himself arrives to take his throne to a great fanfare of trumpets. And so it goes all the day long. Every action, every word, is preceded by a great pageant as people of great significance and magnificence perform exact and exacting ceremonies all around him. It is a great and glorious sight!
Guide: It sounds impressive -- after a fashion. But something must be wrong. Something must have happened.
Pilgrim: Yes, yes. That is why I am here. On a day not long ago, the wise men arrived, and the ladies of the court, and the minstrels singing his praises, and the children tossing their flower petals. Musicians blew the trumpets. But nothing happened. There was no king. He did not arrive.
Guide: What did you do?
Pilgrim: Nothing at first. We stood there, silent, afraid to move. But, at last, one of the children spoke. The child said ...
Attendant: The king is ill. Come to the king's bed.
Pilgrim: (amazed) How did you know that?
Attendant: (shrugs) That's the way kings talk.
Guide: So what did you do then?
Pilgrim: We ran to the king, all of us -- wise men, ladies, minstrels, children, and all the people of the court, all the courtiers. The grand ones and the bland ones. The tall ones and the small ones. The great ones and the late ones. We burst into the king's chambers and found him lying in bed, barely able to move. We asked him to rise. We begged him to rise. We pled with him. But, he was unable to rise. So we asked him what was wrong. He said, "I have five complaints, five woes that have laid me low. The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. It seems to me that there is no hope. And this thought lays me low. Is there anyone who will contradict me? Is there anyone who will cheer me?"
Guide: And what did people say?
Pilgrim: What could they say? We are so used to agreeing with the king that, at first, no one said anything. And as he spoke, we all felt the darkness. Then the king pointed to me. He told me to take a bag and travel to a far country and find five things to answer his five complaints. His five woes. The world is dying. The world is dark. The world ...
Guide: Yes, the world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. (pauses, as if thinking) Perhaps we can help you. Look all around you. What do you see that is living?
Pilgrim: (picks up a brown leaf) What can I see? The leaf is dead. The tree is dead.
Guide: (laughs) No, no, no. The leaf is not dead. It is fallen, and it will give life. The tree is not dead. This is autumn and it has begun its long and deep winter's sleep. We are so obsessed with dying that we forget there is a blessing. During autumn and winter, we come to a standstill. The snow covers the earth with a blanket, and nature rests. But never forget that the memory of spring is hidden in the bulbs planted deep beneath the surface of the earth. You can't see the bulbs, but when the spring returns and the hungry sun wakes the ground then the bulbs will send forth the flowers and life returns. We are waiting for a certain future of bounty and love. The world is not dead. The world is alive. Hope is alive.
Pilgrim: How can hope be alive?
Guide: Have faith.
(Faith steps forward to take the place of the first candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the candle on the altar's Advent wreath.)
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: I see! I see! Here is one thing I can bring back to the king. Let me dig up a bulb and take it back to him.
Guide: If you dig up the bulb, it will never flower.
Pilgrim: Then what can I show the king?
Guide: Take the king your faith. Trust the sun. Trust in faith. Your bag must remain empty, but take this wisdom back with you: "... faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).
Pilgrim: (repeats slowly) "... faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (pauses) So the world is not dying. That answers one of the king's questions. But how about the others? That the world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war.
Guide: Please -- let faith give you hope. Take rest now. Come to the castle.
Pilgrim: What castle?
Guide: Look with the eyes of faith. It is just beyond that hill. Rest there. And come back. Come back again, and we will see what we can do about your other complaints. For now, think on faith, and have hope.
Faith: (sings once more)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
The End
Week 2
Second Week of Advent
Hope: Purple Candle of the Moon
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim enters to find Faith in the living Advent wreath. Pilgrim still carries the empty bag.)
Pilgrim: Are you still here? Where is the Guide?
(Guide enters with Attendant and Hope. Hope, the second candle of the living Advent wreath, bears the mark of the Moon. Attendant carries the candlelighter.)
Guide: Here I am! Pilgrim, I am glad you have returned.
Pilgrim: I had to. Thanks to you, I have faith. I have faith that even as winter approaches, the sun will return.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Guide: And you remember what I said about faith?
Pilgrim: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Yes, I remember. I have thought on those words. But still, I think of my king, the king in a country far away, who lies dying in his bed because of his fears.
Guide: Do you think he is truly dying?
Pilgrim: He seemed most heart struck to me!
Guide: Then why did he not come himself, do you suppose?
Pilgrim: Kings don't go on their own errands. They send others for them.
Guide: (laughs) I am forgetting. We are speaking about the kings of the world again. It is very hard for them to come and to go, to fetch and to carry, and to bear for many ...
Pilgrim: What sort of king comes on his own? What would people think of such a king?
Guide: What would they think, indeed.
Pilgrim: You know, I have looked for your king. I have asked after your king. But everyone in the castle seems to know the king, yet has not seen him.
Guide: We have faith. And our king is different than any other. Our king is coming.
Pilgrim: How do you know?
Guide: How can we not know? Look around you.
Pilgrim: I have looked around. And so has our king. That is why he was brought low. He said, "The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war." Now you have taught me the world is not dying. But still, the world is dark. The sun is visible less and less each day. The sun sets earlier and earlier, rises later and later. The world is dark. And my bag is still empty.
Guide: Yes, your bag. Your king asked you to bring back five things.
Pilgrim: Five things to answer his complaints. To prove to him the world is not dying, the world is not dark, the world is not lost, the world is not skeptical, and the world is not war. You have taught me that the world is not dying, yet you forbid me from taking a bulb from beneath the earth in order to prove to the king that there is hope. All I have is a song.
Guide: But if you took the bulb you would have neither spring nor hope. Yet, your hope is weak. We must build it up. The sun is setting and the world seems dark. So look to the sky -- see the bright moon!
(Hope steps forward to take the place of the second candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the first and second candles in the altar's Advent wreath.)
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Guide: Do you hear hope in the moon's song? Is the world still dark?
Pilgrim: (falters) Well, yes, and honestly -- no! The moon is bright tonight. But what of other nights? The moon is not constant like the sun. The moon comes and goes, and is brighter and darker, setting early or rising late.
Guide: The moon is like our king. The king comes and goes as he pleases. He is not tame. He is not ours to control. How we would love to stand in his light always, yet there are times he seems distant, or even hidden. But that is the way of real kings.
Pilgrim: The moon is your king?
Guide: (gently corrects) No, the moon is like our king. Yet nothing is like our king.
Pilgrim: And what sign can I take back to my king of this? If I cannot take the bulb with me to assure my king the world is not dying, what sign can I take that the world is not dark?
Guide: Look beneath your feet. What do you see?
Pilgrim: Nothing.
Guide: If what you see beneath your feet is nothing, then nothing is everywhere. Look again.
Pilgrim: I am standing on the earth.
Guide: What could be more solid and reassuring than the earth. The dark earth, the loam, the deep earth, where roots take hold that flowers may climb to the sun, where tall trees dig deep to drink of deeper springs?
Pilgrim: (bends down to scoop up earth into his bag) Then I simply have to fill my bag with the earth ...
Guide: (interrupts) Why? The earth is everywhere. It is here. It is past that hill. It is in your far country. It is a gift to all people everywhere from our king. You need only dig in your own country when you return. The ancient story of the earth is told and retold, and even when the moon sets and all seems dark, the earth provides cushion enough for our dreams.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Guide: Take rest yourself. Return to the castle. And later, return to me that I may answer your other concerns. For now, know that the world is not dying, the world is not truly dark. After all, even the dark is blessed and becomes a place of sleep. God is present in times of darkness. Hope is renewed again and again, by faith. After all, you don't control God.
Pilgrim: I thought you said it was your king who cannot be controlled.
Guide: Take your rest, Pilgrim. And return! In the meantime, remember these words: "For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness" (Galatians 5:5).
Pilgrim: (repeats) For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Guide: For through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Pilgrim: Faith and hope are tied together?
Guide: With love....
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
The End
Week 3
Third Week of Advent
Love: Pink Candle of the Stars
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim is standing on stage holding his empty bag. Guide enters with Love, the third candle of the living Advent wreath, who bears the mark of the Stars. Attendant, who is carrying the candlelighter to light the candles also enters. Faith and Hope enter and take their places in the living Advent wreath.)
Guide: I'm here!
Pilgrim: (sheepishly) I'm here, too. I guess I wanted to see you enter, to see if you would be faithful.
Guide: (smiles) You are not the first pilgrim who has come to our Far Country, looking for Faith and Hope, seeking reassurance. I trust your stay at the castle has been comfortable?
Pilgrim: Yes, but it has been puzzling, as well.
Guide: In what way?
Pilgrim: Everything seems orderly. Everyone seems to live under the leadership of a king. They all know their places and rejoice in their places.
Guide: And what is odd about that?
Pilgrim: Only this -- that there is no king that I can see. And when I question my hosts about their king, they seem not at all alarmed about the fact that they have never seen their king, yet seem sure that he exists.
Guide: They have faith.
Pilgrim: Is faith enough?
Guide: And what did I tell you?
Pilgrim: That faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proof of things not seen.
Guide: Exactly. And what of hope?
Pilgrim: That through the Spirit, by faith, we eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness.
Guide: Very good.
Pilgrim: If that is good enough for you, then why is it not good enough for my king and our people? My king was lying ill in his bed, certain that the world is dying, the world is dark, and the world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war.
Guide: And that is why you carry that bag -- to bring back five things for your king to assure him he is wrong.
Pilgrim: Exactly -- except that while you have demonstrated that there is hope in the bulbs hidden in the earth, and strength in the earth itself, you have given me nothing to take back as proof of the things you have taught me.
Guide: Your words will be enough, or nothing will be enough.
Pilgrim: I hope so. Yet, when I consider the depravity we witness, the cruelty of people toward each other, the dashing to dreams and the strength of evil, certainly it seems that the world is lost.
Guide: The world is not lost. People are lost.
Pilgrim: That is worse, isn't it?
Guide: The lost can be saved. You can reach them. Listen to these words of wisdom ...
Pilgrim: Will you have me look down again? Twice you have directed my attention earthward, first to the hidden bulb, which I cannot see, and then to the earth itself, which I cannot lift, nor can I take it with me. What is left earthward for me to take hope from?
Guide: No, I would direct your gaze heavenward. The sun has retreated. The moon is setting. Now look to the beacon stars and remember these words: "You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts" (2 Peter 1:19).
(Love steps forward to take the place of the third candle in the living Advent wreath as Attendant lights the first, second, and third candles in the altar's Advent wreath.)
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Guide: The world only seems lost. There is the Sun of Faith, the Moon of Hope, and the Stars that are beacons of God's Love. The stars give guidance to the sailors at see. The stars guide those who are escaping the lash and traveling to freedom. Though the stars seem to be small, scattered lights, together they form patterns, and change the way we look at the void so that stories emerge, and with the stories, the assurance that God is unchanging, and will come again and again through the seasons of life. The stars, and this star, are a symbol of God's Love, which will not abandon the people!
Pilgrim: (crestfallen) Love. Is that all? What can love do, really, against the cruelty of the world?
Guide: You are confusing love with weakness. Love seems soft only to those who do not know it. But it is hard as nails -- the nails that are pounded into wood. Love is bright as fire -- the fire that sweeps away the brush accumulated over decades so that seeds become saplings and new trees can take root. Love is not afraid to die, but never for gain and only for others.
Pilgrim: But once again, what can I bring back? Simply the words you taught me?
Guide: You could do worse. Those words are ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) You would do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Guide: I have said that a star is a beacon. It shines brightly, faithfully over centuries. The stories that the people tell about the patterns they see in the stars are stories that do not die. Listen ...
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: So you give me no star to place in my bag?
Guide: No. Like love itself, a star is too hot to contain or control. God's love burns fiercely, tearing away the illusions we share and cutting to the core of God's plan for our lives. But when you return home to your king, you will see the exact same stars in the sky. And you may point to this special star, which shines more brightly than any other -- for it is a herald of something greater.
Love: (speaks) "But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judea, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).
Pilgrim: What does that mean?
Guide: Come once more, and you will find the answer to your king's fourth concern -- for this star is a beacon that beckons to many far off, who will soon be near. And know that this star endures. Many will see it who never laid eyes on it, and will treasure its beauty although it will be hidden to their generation. But you are blessed -- and know this about faith, hope, and love. They will abide, though everything else fails. And the greatest of these is ...
Pilgrim: Love, I imagine.
Guide: It is not your imagination. It is truth.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
The End
Week 4
Fourth Week of Advent
Trust: Purple Candle of the Magi
The Living Advent Wreath
(Faith, Hope, Love, and Attendant, carrying candlelighter, enter. Trust, comprised of three people representing the magi, also enters.)
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seen gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
(Pilgrim enters with the empty bag at the same time Guide enters, but from different sides of the stage.)
Pilgrim: Faithful guide!
Guide: Pilgrim of faith!
Pilgrim: It is no longer any great task to see you and find you.
Guide: But your bag is no heavier.
Pilgrim: Still, my heart is lighter.
Guide: What will your king say? You were sent by an ailing king to bring back five things to answer his five woes -- the world is ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) The world is dying. The world is dark. The world is lost. The world is skeptical. The world is war. Those are the woes that trouble him. And troubled me.
Guide: No longer?
Pilgrim: What have you shown me? That the world is not dying, but resting, sleeping, waiting for a great awakening.
Guide: And not the bulbs only, waiting for the spring, but all of creation, waiting for our king to appear.
Pilgrim: You have taught me faith, though you gave me nothing for my bag.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: And though all seems dark, yet even at night there is the moon to cast blue shadows upon the earth itself, which is a thing of story. That gives me hope.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Guide: And though the world seems lost ...
Pilgrim: (interrupts) Yet there is love, more powerful than thunder and lightning, more irresistible than the movement of continents, more gentle than the fall of a snowflake, more certain than, well, even faith and hope. Like a star in the heavens, love beckons above the storms of life that rage all about us.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Pilgrim: So I am satisfied, even if there are no answers to a skeptical world, to a world at war. Perhaps some ills cannot be changed.
Guide: So you are content to return, even without the fulfillment of your mission?
Pilgrim: Surely faith, hope, and love are enough.
Guide: Perhaps they are. Yet, there is persistence. Even against the sneer of a skeptical world.
Pilgrim: So what sort of answers can we give to those who are not believers?
Guide: First we must not give up on such people. "God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable" (Isaiah 40:28). "So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).
Pilgrim: Are these words of wisdom also from your sages?
Guide: Some people have no persistence. They will not endure in the face of what seems at first to be failure. But God is persistent, though we turn our hearts and faces from him again and again. He forgives us, seven times seventy times, and again beyond that.
Pilgrim: That is good for the creator. But who in this world shares this persistence? Who will risk all when the world scoffs?
Guide: There are those who, with only the possibility that they will see the end of God's good plan, set out in trust. Look! Here are the ones who are wise, though others consider them fools. They are the magi. They are Trust.
(Attendant lights the first, second, third, and fourth Advent candles in the Advent wreath on the altar.)
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Trust: (speaks) We have traveled far, following the star, knowing that it leads us to the great king, the king all people seek. Our journey is nearly ended, and soon our hearts will be satisfied. But even if we are not vindicated in the eyes of others, we would still follow the star. We trust in God's goodness and glory. We trust in God's plan.
Pilgrim: (laughs) There is no way they will fit into my bag. The bag will remain empty. But I no longer care. I have my answer for a skeptical world. And if there is no answer to a world at war, I cannot be faulted for having traveled so far and learned so much.
Guide: Do not give up on your quest, yet! Come once more from the castle and you will learn one more thing. Bring your bag -- and prepare to set out for home.
Pilgrim: Still, I doubt that you can do much about the wars and the rumors of war. They will always be among us.
Guide: What did I teach you? God does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable (Isaiah 40:28).
Pilgrim: (finishes) So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest-time, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:9).
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
The End
Week 5
Christmas Eve
The Manger: White Candle of Peace
The Living Advent Wreath
(Pilgrim and Guide enter together, followed by Faith, Hope, Love, Trust, and Attendant, who is carrying a candlelighter. Pilgrim still carries his empty bag. The curtain is closed and behind it is the manger with Mary, Joseph, and Infant.)
Pilgrim: I thank you, Guide, for all you have done for me. I came here hopeless, and now I hope to bring hope, along with faith, trust, and love to the king who sent me.
Guide: Your king had five woes -- the world is dying, the world is dark, the world is lost, the world is skeptical, and the world is war.
Pilgrim: (laughs) And he gave me this sack to fill with five things to answer his five woes. My sack is as empty as ever, but not my heart.
Guide: What have you learned, Pilgrim, in Far Country?
Pilgrim: The world is not dying. It lives. I can see the tree has grown even as we have met! Even when it is sleeping, there is hope for the spring! As long as we have faith.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Pilgrim: The world is not dark. Even when the sun is gone, there is the light of the moon, constantly inconstant, yet bringing hope in dark places.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Pilgrim: The world is not lost. Not while there is love. Love is patient and kind. It is not jealous or boastful. It is not arrogant or rude. Certainly you were right when you said that faith, hope, and love abide, these three, and that the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:4, 13).
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Pilgrim: Knowing the love of God helps us to trust -- to follow the beacon, the star, the shining city on the hill, no matter what the skeptics might say.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Pilgrim: So, I am content now. There is no answer that can be given in the face of a world at war. The search for peace is useless. We must make our separate peace and hope it is enough with life's dangers all around us.
Guide: Are you sure?
Pilgrim: Each time I have visited you there has been another candle to light and another song to sing. But there is no new singer here. Only Faith, Hope, Love, and Trust. I do not see Peace.
Guide: Yet, we have peace -- and the promise of peace for all. That is why our wisest words remind us that, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -- on them light has shined" (Isaiah 9:2).
Pilgrim: (looks around) I don't see this peace.
Guide: Soon all will see it. "For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace" (Isaiah 9:5-6). And, Pilgrim, we have this peace!
Pilgrim: (a light is dawning) So you are Peace?
Guide: No, I only point to it. Pilgrim, come to the manger. (curtain opens and reveals the manger with Mary, Joseph, and Infant) Come to the manger!
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
Guide: Yes, yes, all is folly. We proclaim the king of peace, yet few believe in the king, and none see peace. Yet that king is surely coming. We have faith. We have hope. We share love. And we have the testimony of the wise men of the ages.
(Attendant lights all five Advent candles.)
Love, Hope, Faith, and Trust: (sing)
Come to the manger, ye hopeless and tired.
Shed all your cares with your greed.
Though in the wiles of worldliness mired
You may be lost -- come -- be freed.
God has supplied what we need.
(Each person sings a line of the song)
Love: Love like a star, is a beacon, fair stranger,
Hope: Hope will not lead you astray.
Faith: Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Trust: The star in the East lights the way!
All: Worship the king on this day!
Guide: "His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onward and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this" (Isaiah 9:7). So here is your real king, the one you must truly serve. Your worldly king is but a shadow. Here is your heart's desire. Here is your home.
Pilgrim: What difference can a baby make? And certainly I cannot take this babe back to my king!
Love, Hope, Faith, and Trust: (sing)
Come to the manger, ye hopeless and tired.
Shed all your cares with your greed.
Though in the wiles of worldliness mired
You may be lost -- come -- be freed.
God has supplied what we need.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Guide: The baby has his own path to follow. Tabernacle and temple, God is in motion. God is not still, and God is among us. There is a garden that he will weep in, a cross for him to carry, and a tomb where he will be glorified. You cannot take him with you, but you can follow him. It is not safe to do so, but it is glorious. And through him there will be peace.
"In days to come the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised up above the hills. Peoples shall stream to it,
Faith: "and many nations will come and say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.' For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
Hope: "He shall judge between many peoples, and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more
Love: "but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid;
Trust: "for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken" (Micah 4:1-4).
Guide: Come all ye faithful.
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
Love: (sings)
Love like a star is a beacon. Believer,
Follow, tho' hounded by hates.
Love sees a pattern, and so like the weaver,
Colors bright bind us in plaits.
Patiently biding, Love waits.
Hope: (sings)
Dusk is erased with no hint of a morning.
Shall Hope be lost in the dark?
Not while the Moon shines to call the forlorn. Sing!
Shine in the darkness, till hark,
Day has returned, hear the lark.
Faith: (sings)
Faith is the hub at the heart of the flower
While in the autumn she yearns
Sweetly for spring and her nurturing shower.
Faith I am. Snow abounds. Burn.
Sunshine will always return.
Trust: (sings)
Follow your dream in the presence of scoffers.
Choices may often seem gray.
Still we must seize what our history offers.
Star in the East lights the way.
Moon and Sun too have their say.
Guide: Take a look in your bag, Pilgrim. If you can lift it!
Pilgrim: My bag! It is full.
(Pilgrim looks within and his bag is full. There are scrolls, a model of the Nativity, a star, a flower, and a heart.)
Guide: Do not be afraid; for see -- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
Pilgrim: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors! Come all ye faithful! Let us worship our king.
Guide: (sings)
What shall we say in the face of life's danger?
Come all ye faithful to me.
Though you were lost, it's not God who's the stranger.
Peace can be found with the babe in the manger.
Faith, Hope, and Love all agree.
Come to the manger and see.
The End
