A village many traveled to see

By Rob Hurtgen

This past year I officiated a funeral for a man who was, in his own way, Father Christmas. He did not have a beard or a cherry nose, but when he laughed his belly did shake like a bowl full of jelly. He was giving and kind, and children of all ages for miles and miles came to see him -- or at least his living room.

Each year for decades, this man set out a Christmas village display in the front window of his home. One year there were a few little houses on a table, the next year a few more. Each year the display grew until it took up the entire living room. Floor to ceiling, wall to wall, staggered so each house could be seen from the picture window.

Each year families would bring their children to the quiet street, park their cars, walk up to the window and sign the guest book. Little noses pressed against the frozen glass, with fingerprints marking where their favorite house was. Each year this man would come out to meet the families, give the kids a candy cane and quietly go back inside. He waited until they left and then cleaned the glass for the next family. This scene repeated itself over and over again, year after year, until last year, when his health weakened him.

Last Christmas, he did not have the energy to put out the display. His once faithful legs could no longer carry his overflowing heart. His family came to the rescue. The display was moved to the garage. Stretching from end to end of a two-car garage and 5 feet deep was the most spectacular display of Christmas villages anywhere. The guest book was there, too. It was filled with notes of parents who brought their children every year from miles around to see the display. More than 1,800 families signed his guest book that year. Thunderous joy came from a little house on a quiet street in a small town. This year the display will be out but, unknown to many, there will be a very important piece missing.

This story does not end here because there was once another village that many traveled to see. So many that a young, very pregnant girl was forced to have her first child not in security but in a stable. In that quiet town, in the middle of nowhere, Christmas first arrived, bringing eternal hope and joy to every village and all people, everywhere.