I have already been playing Christmas music. There. I said it.

And right now, Yet Another Unitarian Universalist has me thinking about UU themes in Christmas music.

The song that I think is the quintessential UU holiday song isn't a hymn, and wasn't (I don't think) written by a Unitarian. Christmas by Blues Traveler. We used it, in a poetic way, for a holiday service one year. We had a marvelous singer/guitarist, who divided up the song, singing the less hopeful part at the beginning of the service, followed by the children giving silent tableaux with appropriate songs for the major holidays, then he ended the program with the second half of the song. It made nice bookends.

Here's the song. If you haven't heard it, find a download. I love it, not only for mentioning different holidays, but also for that deep feeling that I think so many of us have had. The longing for something bigger and encompassing. "I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me. Save me from my righteous doubt as I watch helpless And everybody sings."

Christmas

Comes the time for Christmas
And I really have to ask
If this is feeling merry
How much longer must it last
I wish a one horse open sleigh
Would come carry me away
But I've been waiting here all day
And one just hasn't come my way
Now excuse me if I'm not being reverent
But I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Save me from my righteous doubt as I watch helpless
And everybody sings
If it's Chanukah or Kwanzaa
Solstice, harvest or December twenty-fifth
Peace on earth to everyone
And abundance to everyone you're with
Laha da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da da
Laha da da da da
Laha da da da da
Comes the time for Christmas
And as you raise your yuletide flask
There's like this feeling that you carry
As if from every Christmas past
It's as if each year it grows
It's like you feel it in your toes
And on and on your carol goes
Harvesting love among your woes
I want to buy into the benevolent
And I was hoping for a miracle to hold me, wash me
Make me know what it's about
As the longing in me makes me want to sing
Noel or Navidad
Season celebration or just the end of the year
Christmas can mean anything
And I mean to keep its hope forever near
Laha da da da da da
Da da da da da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da da
La da da da da da da da da da
Laha da da da da
Laha da da da da
As if a cold and frozen soul is warm to love
By love's own hand
So goes the prayer if for a day peace on earth
And good will to man
At twenty below the winter storm it billows
But the fire is so warm inside
And the children while nestled in their pillows
Dream of St. Nicholas's ride
And how the next day they'll get up and they will play
In the still falling Christmas snow
And together we'll celebrate forever
In defiance of the winds that blow
My god in heaven now I feel like I'm seven
And spirit calls to me as well
As if Christmas had made the winter warmer
Made a paradise from what was hell
As if a cold and frozen soul is warm to love
By love's own hand
So goes the prayer if for a day peace on earth
And good will to man.......
I wish a one horse open sleigh would come carry me away
And I'll keep waiting through next may
Until Christmas comes my way.