Christmas Music

Now that Thanksgiving is over, let the Christmas music begin! Shame on all of you who listen early! We don’t want to overdo it and make it lose it’s magic. The reality is, there is something magical (I’m using that term lightly) about this time of year. I’m sure that is why so many start the music up early. We can’t wait for it to all begin!

Whether it’s Mariah Carey’s, All I Want For Christmas is You, or Andy Williams, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, these songs take us to a special place. For me it is a simpler time. Everything seemed brighter and tasted a bit sweeter. That is the way memories work. We tend to forget the difficult days. And if we don’t forget them, somehow they were transformed into not-so-bad days in our minds.

Any song off of A Charlie Brown’s Christmas will get me nostalgic instantly. There’s just something about those piano scores mixed with Linus saying, “that’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.”

I feel like our Christianity tends to operate in the same way. Everything used to be magical. I hear people say, “remember how exciting it once was?” And they aren’t wrong. Just like these Christmas songs reminding us of the wonderful yesteryears, there is something special about how our walk with Christ all began. It was fun and exciting. God did move in amazing ways. Prayer times at the altar seemed to be more special, and God’s voice seemed much clearer.

It is good for us to remember and look back. We can’t live there anymore, but we certainly don’t have to forget it all. Even in the letter to the church in Ephesus, Jesus said, “But I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first!” God is telling us to take cues from what once was so we can create new memories from what will be.

This can be difficult to do. We lose heart, life happens, and 2020 hits us hard. But, in everything that happens and in all the ups and downs that we experience, let us not forget that salvation is and will always be the greatest miracle. David went through some major changes in life. Some because of circumstances and others of his own doing. He wrote Psalm 51 and asked God to restore to him the joy of salvation.

At this time of year, while listening to music that brings us back to some wonderful childhood memory, we need to ask for the same thing that David did. Let’s not forget to look back to where this all started. We must remember the reason we celebrate this time of year to begin with. It all started with a baby in a manger. C. S. Lewis said, “Once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world.” Jesus. He is our hope and our joy.

Let’s finish off what has been a crazy year, by celebrating and remembering all that Christ has done for us!