The Twelve Blogs of Christmas

Okay this is the first of what will hopefully be a twelve part series between now and Christmas based on holiday song lyrics that are either favorite songs of mine, annoyingly overplayed songs that are stuck in my head or songs that are excessively applicable to life in the holiday season.

Part One: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...
So this doesn't do much to show off my impressive knowledge of Christmas song lyrics but it seems an appropriate place to start. I mentioned in some previous blogs that Tony and I have had our tree up since well before Thanksgiving and although part of me does cringe at the thought of increasing the "Holiday Blur" (with Christmas decor hitting the stores before Halloween these days it does seem a shame not to appreciate the individual joys of the fall to winter months) it's been fun to be greeted with a twinkling faux-evergreen each morning and evening. With daylight becoming increasingly more scarce I'm one of those that likes to substitute Christmas lights for daylight - which is all the more advantageous since after Christmas (technically after Dec. 21st) the daylight hours are on the upswing!

But back to my topic - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere you go. And that should be a good thing. Instead of seeing trees and santas and lights and psychotic shoppers as an awful reminder of the commercialism of the holidays - be glad that the holidays are commercialized! Yes. You did read that right. And I'm NOT being sarcastic. Hear me out: Christmas season is an advertisement for Christmas. *TANGENT ALERT* Think for a moment about the super bowl... The super bowl is a football game that was once upon a time just a football game and has now become a media frenzy about music, showmanship and of course commercials! There's been tons of things added to it, but at it's heart it's still a football game and no one can ever change the fact that it's a football game and all the extras just get more and more people involved to be a part - no matter how small a part - of a football game. Now here's the analogy: Christmas which was once upon a time just about Christ's birth has become a media frenzy about music, characters, and of course shopping! There's been tons of things added to it but at it's heart it's still about Christ's birth and no one can ever change the fact that it's about Christ's birth and all the extras just get more and more people involved to be a part - no matter how small a part - of Christ's birth.

So now instead of groaning at the eighteenth bell ringing santa you've seen in the course of four city blocks, think of it as free advertisement. A daily reminder that the time of Christ's birth is almost here! Those trees lit up in the park might as well be neon signs declaring "IT'S CHRISTMAS". And every little Frosty and Rudolph will get a child to recognize that it's time for a very special holiday. And when you stop and realize each year that It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, you can stop and think that it's beginning to look a lot like the time to celebrate the birth of Our Lord.