There is a part of the Christmas story at odds with hope, peace, joy and love of Christmas, a part that can’t be in the Christmas Pageant: the part after the visit of the Magi.
Evil is woven into the tapestry of the Christmas story when Herod orders “the slaughter of the innocents” (Mt. 2:16-17) and Matthew quotes the Prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children. And she will not be comforted, because they are no more.” (Mt. 2:18; Jer. 31:15).