December 13th
What makes Christmas, Christmas to you? We all have something that is an essential part of the season; something that, if missing, leaves the holiday feeling a little flat for us. Maybe it is putting up the Nativity scene or seeing little shepherds and angels in the Sunday school program. Perhaps it is watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, putting the ornaments on the tree, or making that special Christmas treat. For my mom’s family, it was her grandpa reading the Christmas story from Luke on Christmas Eve.
For me, the essential Christmas-y part of Christmas is the music. Sacred or secular, silly or serious, from old standbys to some pretty obscure tunes, once Santa hits Harold Square in the Thanksgiving parade, I need Christmas music to make my holiday complete. When I was a little girl, my family had a collection of Christmas albums. I would sit by the record player for hours, deciding my favorite version of each carol. (For the record, it’s hard to go wrong with a children’s choir on Silent Night.)
I still collect Christmas music – some of it makes me laugh (The Christmas Can-Can), some makes me cry (The Ballad of the Christmas Donkey). I have carols in Japanese from the year my brother spent in Japan and a beautiful version of Silent Night in Gaelic which remind me that Christmas is celebrated around the world. Bing Crosby’s classic White Christmas and his newer Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy with David Bowie remind me that Christmas transcends generations. Whether it is The Cherry Tree Carol or the Carol of the Bells, Mary’s Boy Child or Mary Did You Know, music makes Christmas come alive for me. Take time to make Christmas come alive for you.
O lay aside each earthly thing
and with thy heart as offering,
come worship now the infant King.
‘Tis love that’s born tonight!
-Some Children See Him
Cammie Edgar
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