"O, Holy Night" has been my favorite Christmas song for as long as I can remember. I love the music of the season...within reason. For those familiar with the radio stations in Utah, FM 100.3 has been a long standing tradition for Christmas music. As a kid, they would throw a holiday tune into the play list periodically between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then, 4 days before "the big one" they would launch the "100 Hours of Christmas" - nothing but Christmas music and minimal mention of sponsors.
Then it all changed. A competition station came to town and over the years two stations subjected us to their continuous contest to one-up each other. It was just a couple years ago that the Christmas music debut was on Halloween. Yes, pre-trick-or-treating. Now that non-stop yuletide tunes were dominating these two stations for two full months, they had no choice but to infuse their broadcasts with commercials. Can't really blame them; they have businesses to run, and subsequently fund.
You can only guess my delight when Gail found that our satellite TV service had a couple holiday music stations - NO COMMERCIALS! Last week the kids were at their aunt's house for the evening, so we took the opportunity to get the gift wrapping out of the way. The sound track: commercial-free satellite radio. It was an hour or so into the task when I realized we had not yet heard any song which spoke of the real reason we celebrate Christmas. Sure, there was plenty of Frosty, Santa, dreaming of white Christmases and crazy people who find it necessary to roast chestnuts on an open fire. I've never questioned these songs which sing of traditional holiday pastimes, but for some reason this year I have been keenly aware of the absence of Christ in this season. Needless to say, we turned off the satellite and popped in The Forgotten Carols, by Michael McLean. The feeling was amazingly different.
This experience has given me a new appreciation for the local stations. Though littered with Christ-less songs and commercials, they do play a significant amount of songs which celebrate the first coming of our Savior. May we all evaluate our traditions and our focus at this time of year to make sure we are centered correctly. If we are, great. If we aren't, fix it. Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is the reason we have this holiday season. Our society may have evolved it into so much more than that miraculous event, but we can choose to keep Him front and center as we bustle about in our winter wonderland. O, Holy Night...'tis the night of our dear Savior's birth!
