Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Seasonal joy

Tonight I'm sitting on my couch with a load of clothes in the dryer and the candles on my coffee table flickering and burning brightly. The television is off. The windows are open. And as loud as these little laptop speakers will allow, I'm listening to Johnny Mathis sing Calypso Noel.

It's a song of praise and rejoice and delightful faith. It's a song of joy for the season.

Sing we Noel, sing we joyously Noel
Joyously sing of the news we have to tell
Sing we Noel, sing we joyously Noel
Joyously sing of the news we have to tell

I am making a Christmas mix CD for the drive to New Mexico, where I'll spend Christmas with my little tribe in a rented cabin in the mountains. Among others on the CD, I have Alabama, The Eagles, Stevie Wonder and Bob Seger. Josh Grobin, Robert Earl Keen, Stevie Nicks and John Lennon. Not the classics I grew up with but the Christmas songs I found along the years, the ones I've discovered and made my own along side the classics.

Christmas Eve is a week away. I'll be far away from this couch and little recording session I have going for myself. I'll be with the children. I'll be in a small church outside of Albuquerque, rejoicing in the birth of Christ. I'll sing and pray my faith and gratitude.

With the spirit of the season, I can tell you that the other Big Man can't bring me anything more than what I have because I have no needs, no wishes, no Christmas list. I am so blessed and humbled by the gifts I've been given, by knowing that oh so soon, I'll celebrate Christmas with my little lambs. I can't wait to hug them, to discover again their worlds, to speak of my parents, to share them and call them there. We'll shed some tears and memories, we'll laugh, we'll love. We'll celebrate the glory of the season together, the glory of the Christ child. The Lord and 'ol Saint Nick will be there with us. Oh yes, they will be there. And ever so humbly and gratefully, we will give the gift of love we discover and share in His name.

Born to us in the little village
of Bethlehem on this day
is the little Christ child so pure and holy
he's sleeping there in the hay

Sing we Noel, sing we joyously Noel
Joyously sing of the news we have to tell!

5 comments:

ghost said...

merry Christmas, sis. i'll be throwing up a prayer otwo for you over the holidays. i'll light a candle for you.

Soulful said...

I'd love a copy of your Christmas mix!

Duly Inspired said...

Well that works out very well because you're getting a CD of the mix when we get together this evening!

CreekHiker / HollysFolly said...

I'm envious...my own plans are nothing but stress and I'm in the mood to turn off the computer and the phone til next year!

Anonymous said...

I hope you have Stevıe Wonder's Ave Marıa.