Favorite Christmas Songs

 

"What's your favorite Christmas song?"  I asked my children.  This was part of my 'Dad Polls Initiative' to understand my children's tastes.

"I don't know," Vincent said shortly.  He may have a favorite Christmas song, but he certainly wasn't going to reveal it to a Dad Pollster.

"Mine is 'Good King Wenceslas,'" Elliot said.

"That's not a Christmas song," Vincent said.  "It's a Feast of Stephen song."

"I guess it can be your favorite Feast of Stephen song," I said.

"Mine is 'What Child is This,'" Victoria put in.

"That's my second favorite one,"  Elliot said.  "If Good King Wenceslas doesn't count then I guess it is my favorite Christmas song."

"What's your favorite song, Elise?"  I asked our two year old.

"Favorite song!"  Elise said.  She is good at repeating things, even when she doesn't understand the question.

"What about you, Anna?"

"I don't know," she said.  "Something fast, I guess -- like 'Carol of the Bells.'  Definitely not 'Silent Night.'  I'm so tired of that song."

It is Christmas time which means, among other things, Christmas music.  Everyone has a list of favorites and an even longer list of songs which annoy them.  The problem is that by the time you reach the end of the five-ish weeks between Thanksgiving and the Feast of Stephen (December 26th) most of us are pretty burned out on Christmas music.

I suppose I could share a top ten list of Christmas songs that irritate me, but I'd rather not.  Instead I'll share the lyrics to my favorite Christmas song, In the Bleak Midwinter, by Christina Rossetti.

In the bleak mid-winter
Frosty wind made moan;
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
Long ago.

Our God, heaven cannot hold Him
Nor earth sustain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away
When He comes to reign:
In the bleak mid-winter
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty —
Jesus Christ.

Enough for Him, whom Cherubim
Worship night and day,
A breastful of milk
And a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom Angels
Fall down before,
The ox and ass and camel
Which adore.

Angels and Archangels
May have gathered there,
Cherubim and seraphim
Thronged the air;
But only His Mother
In her maiden bliss
Worshipped the Beloved
With a kiss.

What can I give Him,
Poor as I am?
If I were a Shepherd
I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man
I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
Give my heart.

It's a pretty inaccurate song.  There certainly wasn't a thick blanket of snow covering everything around Bethlehem, nor was the water frozen.  In fact, it couldn't have been too cold or the shepherds wouldn't have been in the field that night at all, but rather home in the sheep fold.

There are two things, in spite of the inaccuracies, that come through to me.  First, is the enormity of Christ's gift to us.  He is the ruler of the Universe and yet He humbly stooped to earth to be born into a poor family.  

It speaks of the mind of Christ that Paul spoke of in Philippians chapter 2, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus..."  Jesus chose to become a servant, though He was greater than the greatest lords of the nations.

Second is that this wonderful gift should inspire something in us -- something in me.  We need to give something back to the Savior who did so much for us.  

It is easy to imagine that others have so many more gifts that are worthwhile.  We don't have the talents or the finances that many others have.  If I were only a millionaire I would give a million, if I were a billionaire I would give a billion or two.

But Jesus did not come for us to give Him gold, frankincense, or myrrh.  All that He desires is a gift that everyone of us can afford and a gift that costs all that we are -- our hearts.