Friday, December 12: “Christmastime is Here” by Tori Kelly
As others have astutely observed, for a song that has “happiness and cheer” as its second line, “Christmastime is Here” can feel a bit, let’s say, dirge-y. It’s no wonder the show Arrested Development used it as the theme song for George Michael’s sadness.
The song is about the nostalgia and warm feelings we feel around Christmastime, the joy of childhood wonder, and the “beauty everywhere.” But the lyrics culminate in a simple phrase that reveals the song’s emotional complexity: “Oh, that we could always see / Such spirit through thе year.”
To put it bluntly, 2025 has been a bleak year: wars in Europe and the Middle East, political division and violence, and a general sense of despair building in the younger generations. For many, Christmastime being here isn’t necessarily a moment of hope.
But the world Jesus was born into wasn’t hopeful and peaceful either. Jesus was born into a divided, unjust, and violent world. It’s easy to forget that Jesus was born into events like the massacre of the innocents, that Jesus was born into a world consumed by the classism and brutality of Rome, that Jesus was born into a culture oppressed by the religion of the Pharisees. Jesus’s arrival was always about the infusion of hope into a hopeless world.
What “Christmastime is Here” subtly captures is that the hope of Jesus isn’t just for Christmastime, it’s for all time. That, as Mary sings over her unborn child,
“God’s mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.”
Conversation starter:
“When do you feel the most peace? What do you think inspires that feeling?”
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