The title of the book, Christmas with Hot Apple Cider, begged for a story that warmed the heart.
A Mennonite teenager is enthralled by her introduction to Handel’s Messiah in Toronto’s pretigious Massey Hall.
After considering which of my Christmas memories would best portray the warmth I felt was necessary, it didn’t take me long to decide that hearing the Messiah for the first time had had the most comprehensive effect, not only on that Christmas, but on many Christmases down through the years.
As I began writing, a burning question raised itself in my mind.
Why did I never ask Dad what made him decide to take us to a production so foreign to our experience?
He was a well-read man. He loved reading and researching material for his sermons. He often ventured further than other ministers in the church of which we were a part.
So, one Christmas, he decided to take his wife and three teenage children to Massey Hall for Handel’s Messiah.
I wish I had asked him why he did it, because it would be nice to know, but I will always be grateful that he made that effort.
The plain little brick church close to our home couldn’t have been more of a contrast to the ornate Massey Hall, with its wonderful acoustics.
I felt conspicuous in my Mennonite garb even when we went to shop in downtown Toronto, but at Massey Hall, on such a gala occasion, that feeling was greatly multiplied.
At that time, most people went to such affairs in their best, most fancy clothes.
People did stare and I can’t blame them.
However, I often wished I could tell those observers that underneath it all, I was just like them.
The focus of my story though, is the lasting impression the Messiah made on me.
Throughout the years, many warm memories were made as we listened to it in various settings.
The night before he died, my husband asked to hear the “Hallelujah Chorus” and the “Amen.”
The “Hallelujah Chorus” was sung at the end of his memorial service and I liked to think he was joining in the heavenly choir as we sang.
To celebrate my 75th birthday, my whole family took me to another production.
That occasion, too, will remain in my heart.
So the memory-making goes on.
When I think back, I marvel at the way God has worked through the ages to assure us that we are loved, that He walks with us, and that He has great things planned in the future.
Ruth Smith Meyer enjoys discovering words to communicate inspiration, both written and spoken. She has written two novels, a children’s book, and her autobiography, Out of the Ordinary, as well as contributions for six anthologies, including Good Grief People. She also is a regular contributor to REJOICE!, a daily devotional magazine, and she has had poetry published in several publications. Ruth speaks to varied groups and is thrilled to meet people and make connections. Widowed twice, Ruth now lives in Ailsa Craig, Ontario, when she’s not on the road promoting books or visiting her large combined family.
www.ruthsmithmeyer.com
After reading the Christmas Revelation story in Christmas with Hot Apple Cider, I, too wondered why the writer’s father, raising his family in a life that was so distinctly different from society around their own Mennonite community, chose to not only go himself, but take his family to that production.