Sunbonnet Soliloquy

By Jewell Ellen Smith

Dear Caesar Augustus

The stage lights will be low. Eben, the Innkeeper of Bethlehem, will be in his bed, snoring. Tamar, Eben’s wife, will spread another blanket over her husband, slip off her sandals, and blow out the light of the candle.

On this cue, the technician at the dimmer board will bring the lights down even lower and turn his spotlight to the left side of the ballroom floor of the Lake Lodge to pick up Scene 2 of the Christmas drama in progress.

The spotlight will show Lemuel, the innkeeper’s stable boy, out in front of the inn, leaning against the gatepost, gazing up into the sky.

Lemuel, an orphan teenager -- lonely for his kinsmen, the Judaean shepherds who are out in the fields, tending their flock by night -- will begin talking to a bright new star. The star, it seems to Lemuel, is shining straight down on Bethlehem.

“New Star! New Star! Why are you there?

Why do you shine this night?

Your beams come down on Bethlehem, softly, yet so bright.

Why did God give you light?

Did God make you for the owls of the night?

For the Hawks? For the beasts of prey?

O, no! I think not so! Not for the beasts of prey!

You are not their star!

Did God make you to light the way of those who travel far?

Those who come to Bethlehem? Are you their star?

You could be a guiding star.

Or, did God make you for a great, great king who rules on a golden throne?

You could be a Great King’s star.

Ah, New Star, I think I know why you are there,

Why God gave you light!

You shine for the shepherds, out in the fields, keeping their flock by night.

You shine for the sheep, safe in the fold; their young lambs need your light.

I can see you shining on a little lamb, newborn this very night;

And him asleep on the hay, beneath your soft, soft light.

But, would God make a star for one little lamb?

Even if it were His own?

O, yes! I think He would!

You could be the star of the Lamb of God!

...New Star, why are you there?...

Why did God give you light?”

Lemuel will walk off stage. The light technician will prepare for the next scene. The audience will wait, expectantly, to see the rest of the play unfold.

All this will be on the evening of Friday, December 12, 1980, when the Fort Rucker Community has its first Christmas Dinner Theatre.

The play will be my new musical, DEAR CAESAR AUGUSTUS:, in its premiere performance!

I am proud, exceedingly proud, of this unusual drama and of Eben and Tamar and Lemuel and all the other players and the crews working off stage. Together, they will tell the story of how the Christ Child was born in Bethlehem, in a way it has never been told before!

Fort Rucker should be proud, too! No other Army post will have such a Christmas presentation! For, where else would there be a commanding general who will don the robes of an Old Testament prophet and come on stage to foretell that “There shall come a Star...!” Where else would there be a center chaplain who will wear the crown of a pagan king scheming to have a curse put on his enemies! And, where else would there be such accomplished veteran actors as Clyde Northrop and Betty Tillery and Marie Kounk and Bob Akin and Mike Boyd, and Betty Black and Pat Northrop and Louie Reynolds and dozens and dozens of other persons willing to work for months to make DEAR CAESAR AUGUSTUS:, a magnificent event!

Through the centuries, astronomers have tried to understand and to explain the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem. One theory is that it was two or more stars which come close together for a brief period.

Could it be that at Christmas time God gives “light” to people so that they can gather together to shine for the Child born in Bethlehem? O, yes! I think He does!

See elsewhere on this website for this play. Published December 1980. Click your browser’s ‘Back’ button to return.