Everywhere I turned these days, there it is. Music. And more specifically, Christmas music. Yesterday in worship the children told a version of the Christmas story in song. Working out at the Y, I overhead people talking about how they love listening to Christmas music on the radio. And Facebook has been filled with creative versions of traditional Christmas songs.
Growing up, singing Christmas carols was one of our holiday traditions. No, we weren’t that good …no four-part harmony or anything … but singing was one way our lives found themselves in the Christmas story. Different songs held different meaning and each of us had our favorites. For example, ‘I am so Glad each Christmas Eve’ was Grandpa Olga’s favorite and she taught it to all the grandkids in Swedish. To this day I can’t sing it without remembering her and her strong faith.
What if music was taken out of the holidays? What if the radio stations stopped playing carols? What if children didn’t sing the Christmas story in worship? What if people stopped gathering around pianos in living rooms debating which Christmas song was the best? I’ve got two challenges for you. First, try going a day without listening to Christmas music. Then reflect on what that was like. Second on another day seek out some special Christmas music and listen, really listen. I can’t help you with the first, but I can offer a couple of options on the second.
Intersections by Terri Elton 