Christmas. There are so many traditions and celebrations and things that bring people together. 

What's your favourite?

Tonight was our local Carols.
It's a pretty special time spent with the community, singing songs together.

At our Carols, all songs were about Jesus. 
I don't enjoy all of them –
Some are slow and boring,
Some have questionable lyrics,
Some just have too many verses.

But despite that,
I love that they bring hope,
bring life,
bring joy.

Photo by Srikanta H. U on Unsplash

The shops and radio don't always play these same Christmas carols.
Many are materialistic,
Most are fictional,
And some give fear to children.

What about these lyrics:

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

He's making a list
And checking it twice
Gonna find out Who's naughty and nice
Santa Claus is coming to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good for goodness sake

O! You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout

I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

Are we so accustomed to them that we don't even realise how awful they are?
Are we excited by Santa that we don't realise the threats he's making?
Have we got so lazy in our parenting that we must scare our children into behaving?

Jesus came for the opposite reasons to these.
I'm no song writer but I'd change the lyrics to these:

You better watch out
You better be real
Better not fake
I'm telling you why
Jesus Christ has come to town

He's made a list
He knows it's right
He loves those who are naughty and nice
Jesus Christ has come to town

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows everything about you
So don't hide for goodness sake

O! You better watch out
You better be real
Better not fake
I'm telling you why
Jesus Christ has come to town