Rev. M. L. Lindvall received a letter in a Christmas card. It was a personal letter ”not one of those which relates every event of the past year. The letter writer told how his church had held a Christmas pageant for 47 years with the same director. Perfection was her goal ”nothing less. For years the church’s pageant ran like clockwork. Perfect lines, perfect pacing, perfect everything. Then one year, something even better happened.

You see, the director’s commitment to perfection was greater than her commitment to children. Her reasoning was: "When there are too many youngsters, there is no control." Then the Committee on Education (which included three mothers of last year’s rejected Marys, Josephs, shepherds and Wise Men) passed a resolution: "All children who wish to be in the Christ…