December Song || Peter Hollens || Track 8

Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtlZXmuh9M4

Introducing the Song

Happy first week of December to everyone! I hope you’re in the Christmas spirit right now like I am. December last year was a rough time for me, so I am making an extra effort to not let the Christmas spirit be lost in me this year. Since it is the first week of December, what better way to introduce this song. This song reminds me of this month and what this time of year means. It’s called “December Song” by Peter Hollens.

I first came across Peter Hollens many years ago on YouTube when I was listening to covers a lot. Things haven’t changed all that much, but my music horizon has expanded. He’s an acapella artist with a fantastic voice and many talents. His range of music is so broad that it led me to expand my musical diversity.

The Meaning Behind the Song

In an article from newreleasetoday.com (link at the end of the blog), Peter talks about the song in various ways.

This song comes from the memory of coming down on Christmas morning as a family and the special memory of that time. He recognizes how few moments we get in life, so connecting with our family at that moment doesn’t make us realize how special it truly is. He keeps the meaning simple: “My aim was to write a song with meaning, that hopefully sticks in people’s mind and helps them to change the way they treat each other.”

In the end, the writer asked him what some ways he felt challenged to live out the meaning of this song throughout the year and why we lose sight of this quickly. I want to quote what he says because he says it better than I could paraphrase it. He says: “I think we lose sight of this because we are so driven by capitalism and the media and just getting through the day. We get a little bit of time off at the holidays, but we need to make that time for our family and friends all year. It takes us out of this mundane, almost zombielike approach to life, and allows us to be much more thoughtful of the ways we treat one another and treat ourselves.” See what I mean. He says it better than I ever could have said. I don’t know what else to say. Let’s go to the lyrics.

What Does This Say? – Part 1

The first section of lyrics comes from the pre-chorus, which says:

“But why

Does it change with the seasons?

And why can’t we just hold on?”

Remembering that this song is about taking the spirit of Christmas throughout the other 364 days a year, this song is something we definitely need. We take the mentality of what Christmas is about and hold on to it for the winter season. We are “wishing well to our world” and asking for “peace on Earth to everyone.” We take this season for granted “when all is calm, and all is bright.” Peter asks a good question, though. Why does this have to change with the seasons? Why do we have to stop wishing for peace on Earth, and why do we have to stop wishing well to the world once Christmas is over? Why can’t we continue this theme for the other 11 months of the year?

Well…we can! We can still do that, but it takes intentionality. It takes intentionally holding on to that hope and kindness throughout the other 11 months of the year. We need to take this hope and kindness and impact this into our actions. We need to build these concepts as the foundation of our lives. When we say things, we need to say them with hope and kindness. When we do things, we need to do them with hope and kindness. When we think of things, we need to think about them with hope and kindness. My point is: we need to be that representative of hope and kindness. During 2020, we need more of us to be the source of hope and kindness. This year has been where we can get really down, frustrated, angry, anxious, and so many more emotions. We need to surround ourselves with those that act on this hope and kindness to keep ourselves afloat and have some of that energy rub off on us.

What Does This Say? – Part 2

The second half of the second verse says this:

“It lights up my memories

The magic of love

We made time…”

Remember when we complained about not having enough time? Then 2020 happened, and it seemed like we had nothing but time because we had been locked down / quarantined/stuck at home for 7 months with our schedules cleared. Christmas time was the only time we took that intentional time to spend with family and friends. Even I and I usually run our A/V system. Christmas time is about taking that intentional time to love. To love our family, friends, and strangers around us. To love…because God gave us the ultimate gift of love. That’s Jesus. Jesus came as the ultimate sign of love, shown by his sacrifice to die on the cross for our sins. Sometimes the love that we need to have is that sacrificial. You might think that needs some magic, and it does. There’s a book full of spells that can help give you that magic. Some more powerful than others, but that magic is still there. I know we tend to focus on Luke 2:1-20 during Advent, but there are 65 other books in the Bible to share God’s teachings that you can focus on the other 11 months of the year. This is how we keep that hope and kindness I discussed earlier. The magic of love…is something that you will make time for.

That’s all I have to say today! Thank you for taking the time to read the second of “Let’s Listen To: Christmas Edition.” Next week is a great song, and I hope you tune in to see what will be sung. Stay blessed!