Charles Dickens said it best in A Christmas Carol when he gave Timothy Cratchit the line, “God bless us, everyone!” Seen through the eyes of Tiny Tim, Christmas is a time of blessings and miracles. As children, we anticipate the coming of Christmas mostly because of the expectation of gifts, and of relatives, food and fun. As we grow older, and hopefully wiser, we see the true meaning of Christmas as a time of anticipation of the coming of Christ as well as gifts, relatives, food and fun!

For the past 20 years, I have played an annual Christmas pops concert in our Sanctuary. It is so much fun to bring out the familiar carols and popular songs of the season and play them for an eager audience. Every tune is special and evokes memories of days gone by. As I play them, I can conjure up memories of people, fragrances and tastes. These wonderful tunes hold such a special place in our hearts. Now, for the past several years, the children’s choirs have joined me for a portion of my Christmas concerts. This has become my favorite part of this event. They have worked for several weeks to learn specific songs and they arrive at the warm-up before the concert, all dressed up and excited to be singing for their friends and families. You can feel the joy in their hearts as they open their little mouths and sing at the top of their lungs: “Up on the Housetop…”

People say that Christmas is for children. This is true, but how can you not breathe in the excitement from these young hearts and feel the joy of Christmas that they bring to us? Christmas has always been an extra special time for my family. My father was born on Christmas Day and we always made the day a true celebration of life. While we journey through Advent into Christmas, if you ever doubt the true meaning of Christmas, just look into the eyes of a child. I so look forward to calling the children up from their seats in the congregation and having them take their places on the steps of the Chancel readying themselves to burst forth into song! And without saying a word, we know that they are saying “God bless us, everyone!”