Well, it is Advent, and with this season, the liturgical Nazis come out. They tell me "you can't sing Christmas hymns during Advent!! It is not proper." HOGWASH! I would sing Joy to the World every Sunday if my parish would let me.
It is not that I am a rebel, well maybe it is, but I love this time of year. I love the sights of snow slowly falling on the ground, or for that matter a major snow storm blanketing the landscape. I love the sounds of bells ringing, of laughing children, of contentment being had, and good guitar music being played on my Ipod. I love the joy of expectation--the expectation of seeing grandma at her house on Christmas Eve, of celebrating the Holy Day with loved ones, and of coarse of opening presents. This time of year is awesome for me.
But, people tell me not to sing Christmas hymns during the worship service because it is Advent and we should sing Advent hymns. Now I understand the reason--We don't want to over do Christmas now do we? We don't want to people to start thinking it is Christmas in October like the stores do do we? We want to put the emphasis on the right thing in the church don't we? We need to sing Advent hymns, but have you ever tried to sing those Advent hymns? Some of them are the reason no one wants to come to church anymore! I love "O Come, O Come, Immanuel." That is one awesome Advent hymn, but some of the others . . .well let's just say NO!
But what would happen if we did celebrate Christmas every day of the year? What would the world be like if we lived out in our daily lives the Word incarnate in us every day? Would that be such a terrible thing? What if we sang Joy to the World every morning when we woke up? Would that change our out look on the day? What if we lived out "What Child Is This" as we drove to work every morning? I think the world needs a good dose of Christmas every day. I think the politicians need Christmas every day. I think the war mongers need a good dose of seeing the Word made Flesh in their enemies.
Christmas every day would be a world changing, heart breaking, love making event. I am all for it. Merry Christmas today, tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that, and . . .
1 comment:
But Jerry, what about those great Advent hymns that go unsung? I love Christmas also but gee, when it now starts at Holloween I need a short escape from the the eternally long Chirstmas stuff, if only for an hour a week, and in reality only two weeks because 1) there really arn't that many good Advent hymns, 2) If we arn't singing Christmas music by 3rd Sunday in Advent even my congregation full of drunks, junkies and misfits get cranky.
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