There is always a place for joyful,
if sometimes solemn,
carols for me in this season.
I find myself exhausted from
Coldplay, Lopez, and Sliversun.
Carols are rest for me-
rest from my boombox, rock and roll,
addicted lifestyle;
because, honestly, hip-hop takes
so much emotional energy!
I had a dream the other night that I was standing
in a beautiful avenue between
a row of buildings late
one night just before Christmas.
Snow was falling deep around me.
The trees along the avenue were decorated
with lights and an unseen choir was
singing this song:
It was so beautiful I wished I would never
wake up. But, of course, that couldn't
be helped. Long after the beautiful lights and voices
had faded away, I still held onto the feeling
that buried deep in this season
there is a gift, made especially for me
before I could walk or talk, before I knew
my own name, and long before
I even existed.
When I sing Christmas Carols I am most
conscious of that gift. They always
have the amazing ability to transport me
all the way back to my very first Christmases
before I had yet opened that gift
and it lay there, wrapped in festive paper.
I'm still opening that gift- the gift of a friendship
that will last me this whole life and beyond.
This is my friendship with Christ Jesus.
