Outskirts Press, INC.

Christmas Stories with Group Reflections

This collection of traditional, excavated, and original stories related to the meaning of Christmas will appeal to all ages, particularly children. While the stories lead to pleasurable reading in themselves, the uniqueness of this collection is its emphasis on a reflective section following each story which engages the reader or group to consider the application of the story's message to their own lives. It encourages and promotes group responses to the story together with active sharing of opinions and personal experiences stimulated by the story, in contrast to mere passive listening. A guideline format for the storytelling process and reflection is also outlined.

The Gift of the Firefly (Intro): Even the firefly, the tiny insect of our summer nights, is “touched by the Divine” with a transformative gift for its part in recognizing and responding to the birth of the Child. (Story): "Of all the legends of Christmas, there is none more lovely than that of the fire-fly and its gift. At the time of the Nativity, the story says, the fire-fly did not have the light that makes it such an attractive insect now. It was then just a little brown beetle, so small that it was scarcely noticeable to the human eye, as it crouched among leaves and grass on the ground. There was one such beetle in the field outside the stable when Jesus was born. She had heard the angels singing and seen the shepherds hasten to see the newborn King, and from flying insects she had learned of the coming of the Wise Men from the East and of the gifts they had laid before the Child. She longed to join in this gathering with them, but to reach the stable she would have to travel over a wide field, and as she could only crawl a few inches at a time, the journey would take her many days and nights to accomplish. And then there was the gift. What, if she went, could she possibly take as an offering? Her only treasure was a hay seed which she had found and hidden away when hay had been made in the field. Would that be of any use to the King of Heaven? Well, it was all she had. She would take it to Him. Perhaps He would know that she had nothing else and would not scorn her gift. So she set out on her long and arduous journey, a journey made all the harder because of the hay seed she was carrying, which she pushed and pulled all the way through the grass of the field. It took her many days to reach the stable, but she got there at last, and climbing into the manger she laid the hay seed down beside the Child. It was such a tiny gift that no one else could see it. But the Child saw it – saw it and smiled, and stretching out His tiny hand, with his finger, He gently touched the little creature that had travelled with such labor to bring Him her treasure. And as He touched her, her little brown body suddenly glowed with a shining light, which shines from her still to this very day, having been touched by the Divine." Reflection: IN this touching story, The Gift of the Firefly, the heart of God was so moved by the gifts of His lowly creatures that His hand too gifted them in return. . “ Did you ever have an experience so extraordinary that you too saw this as a gift from the Hand of God?” . “Sometimes people say, ‘What you said to me really touched me… made me see things in a new way.’ Or people may say, “God touched my life”, or, “After that happened I saw things with a new light. I want you to think for a few minutes about something, or someone, that touched your life, that helped you see things in a new way or that made a difference in your life. You might even say that God spoke to you, not directly, but through that something or someone. A gift was given to you although you may not have thought of it that way. Can you then share that experience with us here.”