Oh Holy Night.

Halloween has come and gone and as people are preparing for Thanksgiving, stores are already decked out for Christmas and blasting the recognizable tunes of the holiday season. It seems Christmas music starts earlier and earlier every year. The question however is how early is too early?

I may be guilty of listening to my Christmas Spotify playlist as early as mid October. This is much against other’s judgments that pre-Halloween Christmas jam sessions are untimely and inappropriate. But who said that Christmas songs were strictly meant for December?

Of course some Christmas songs are more strongly related to the winter holiday. Take Justin Biebers 2011 hit Christmas song Mistletoe. “I don’t want to miss out on the holiday, but I can’t stop staring at your face. I should be playing in the winter snow, but I’mma be under the mistletoe.” The song is catchy no doubt, though the Biebs found a way to turn Christmas into a holiday about love, romance and hoping you get a chance to kiss that gorgeous crush of yours under the mistletoe. As every teenage girl swoons over the thought of standing with the adorably charming singer under the “dung on a twig” (I bet you didn’t know that that is the translation for Mistletoe, now did you?) the meaning and significance of Christmas seems to be falling through the cracks.

The story of the Virgin Mary giving birth to a son in a manger, to someone who did not grow up in the church may sound like a madeup fairytale. But sometimes us as Christians hear the story so repetitively that it turns into just another story we know from memory and hear every winter. I however want look deeper into the lives of the amazing people that God desired to be a part of this remarkable story.

Mary was approximately 14 or 15 at the time of Jesus’s birth. Today that would be just another Teen Mom episode, but during their time if a woman became pregnant out of wedlock a crowd would stone her to death. This crowd was usually led by the father of the baby, or in this case by Joseph. But Joseph being the man of God he was, knew the importance of Mary and her unborn son. He knew he had to protect them. Joseph then, did what every woman hopes and dreams for. He swept Mary off her feet and they romantically rode away together into the sunset. Ok, so we don’t know for sure if Joseph was a romantic, but just for the sake of hopeless romantics everywhere lets just say he was. So, Joseph and Mary romantically *wink* left their home to escape their unfortunate fate.

The rest of the story is the part most people have heard. Mary was close to childbirth so together they tried to find a place to stay but the inn was full. She gave birth to Jesus in a manger. The Wisemen came and brought gifts while the shepherds were lead by a bright star to this astonishing baby boy. Jesus grew up to perform miracles and save us from our sins.

The fact that Mary’s fate was to be stoned to death before Jesus would be born and that Joseph stood against what society deemed appropriate at the time, is so miraculous. I believe it is something to be celebrated, to be praised. Jesus was born because of this amazing couple, who were strong and listened to God. They did what many Christians are sometimes afraid to do. They wholeheartedly trusted in God.

Christmas music is not just a catchy tune set to festive lyrics. Christmas music celebrates the birth of the Son of God. It glorifies the life of the man who was born onto this Earth for the purpose of dying on the cross to save us from our sins. So who says that you can’t jam out to Oh Holy Night or The First Noel in the middle of May, or June, or September? Because trust me when I say that there is nothing wrong with that.

-Samantha Piersol

(Image by: Sami Lee Photography)