I’m excited because it’s already Christmas time! We’ve already received the Toys R Us Christmas toy catalog in the mail, Target & Gap have Christmas ads on tv, and the local Kiwanis is putting up their mobile Christmas tree farm in the parking lot of the Catholic Church. I could do Christmas all year – what better time to revel in the beauty and mystery of God’s plan for us! I love Christmas.
Music is a big part of Christmas too. My favorite Christian song writer, Andrew Peterson, has written a Christmas concert titled, “Behold the Lamb of God”. He’s toured with his band the last 10 years performing it all over the country. You can purchase a DVD of the performance or buy the score so that your church can do the concert as well. (Find all the stuff in the Rabbit Room store).
Listen to how real he makes the birth of the Christ feel in the song, “Labor of Love”. (lyrics posted below)
If we forget the unglamorous reality of Christ’s birth, our faith is will be filled with glamorous vanity.
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David’s town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother’s hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
Noble Joseph at her side
Callused hands and weary eyes
There were no midwives to be found
In the streets of David’s town
In the middle of the night
So he held her and he prayed
Shafts of moonlight on his face
But the baby in her womb
He was the maker of the moon
He was the Author of the faith
That could make the mountains move
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love
For little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
It was a labor of love
