Written by Ace Collins. This is an excerpt from his book “Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas.
MEDITATION:
The Nutcracker Ballet is perhaps the most unique Christmas tradition. Considering that this ballet was adapted from a morbid story written for adults, brought to the theater by a famous composer who had great reservations about the project’s merit and especially about its Christmas setting, and originally staged by students and opening to bad reviews, one would think the ballet would have been doomed to obscurity, lost in the maze of other failed holiday theatrical productions. But The Nutcracker survived, somehow hanging on to life in communist Russia and finally finding a magical platform in a place that rarely embraced classical culture – Cold War-era United States…Each year more than 200 American ballet companies pack theaters from coast to coast with their versions of The Nutcracker. The ballet creates the same kind of results in Europe and Asia. The Nutcracker does not embrace the scriptural story of the first Christmas. It is simply classic fantasy told in a childlike fashion., But in important ways, the Nutcracker accomplishes what the holidays are supposed to accomplish: it brings family and friends together to share in the wonder, joy, and magic of the season. Just like the bright-eyed expressions of 12th century children as their fathers cracked nuts at Christmas, the looks of wonder in children’s eyes as they watch or participate in a much different holiday Nutcracker prove that the spirit of Christmas can be reborn in a wide variety of ways around the world each year. And that spirit is something worth celebrating.
SCRIPTURE:
James 1:17
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”
LINK TO CHRISTMAS MUSIC/VIDEO:
Pathways Press.com 
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