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Christmas Thoughts

I love Christmas, and Christmas has inspired some of the most wonderful music and art over the past thousand years. Below is a beautiful example.

It's not the literal meaning of the words of "Mary did you Know" that inspires me, it's the spiritual/emotional concept of God being born perfectly new again every year. (Other religions have annual renewal moments too.) And I'm touched by such ideas surrounding the relationship between a mother and child in any context.

How should a mother treat a child? How should a father be? Christians should treat others as they would treat Jesus. That's pretty clear in the Bible. So shouldn't every baby be treated as though he were the baby Jesus?

What about those who aren't Christian? Isn't each child a new potential? A dawn? The start of an unforeseen adventure in which the mother is a supporting character and not the hero?

Even atheists see the moment of shining perfection in a birth.

The better we handle the trust given us by a child, the better people we are, and the better the child's young life, adulthood and old age will be. We're not just dealing with little children. We're dealing with the whole of life itself, which will outlast us all. We are dealing with joy and with eternity.

Merry Christmas,

Sandra
2004 See Ren Allen's response, in those days, below.


[All the singers are clear, but lyrics are lower on the page.]

2012 note:
Now, a few years later, it's easy to embed a video. Merry Christmas again! (sorry about the intro- and end-noise, but the vocals are good)

2015 note:
This song is no longer obscure. I've added renditions by Pentatonix (2014) and CeeLo Green (2012), below. Both have harmonies that gave me the chills—Pentatonix repeatedly, and CeeLoGreen when the strings and his voice form a buzz beyond what was planned..

By Ren Allen (Ren) on Monday, December 20, 2004 - 11:30 pm:

"The better we handle the trust given us by a child, the better people we are, and the better the child's young life, adulthood and old age will be. We're not just dealing with little children. We're dealing with the whole of life itself, which will outlast us all. We are dealing with joy and with eternity. "

That is one of the most profound things I've read. I love the thought of every parent looking at their child through this lens:

"Did you know
That your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod
When you kiss your little baby,
You kiss the face of God "

How perfect. If parents would just stop and see potential Einsteins, Mozarts and Picassos in their little child, how much better would this world be? And one step further, to see that potential and treat them with that respect and adoration, yet be perfectly happy with the child's unique life choices whether they lead to greatness or not.

Ren



Lyrics

One of the songs on Clay Aiken's Christmas album (in 2004) was new to me. It's fairly new to the world in general (early 90's, written by Buddy Greene and Mark Lowry ). I looked up a couple of other renditions, but I didn't like them better. Lyrics lose power without the context of their tunes, but poetically speaking, there are some big moments here:

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would one day walk on water

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters

Did you know
That your baby boy
Has come to make you new

This child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will give sight to a blind man

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Will calm the storm with His hand

Did you know
That your baby boy
Has walked where angels trod
When you kiss your little baby,
You kiss the face of God
Oh Mary did you know
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
The dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of The Lamb
Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Is Lord of all creation

Mary did you know
That your baby boy
Would one day rule the nations

Did you know
That your baby boy
Is Heaven's perfect Lamb

This sleeping child
You're holding
Is the great
I Am

Disclaimer: I was raised Baptist and am not religious as an adult. Nothing about me or my beliefs keeps this from being a really great song. Be sweet to your children.