It seems like just yesterday that the teams from R squad were in the midst of a the never-ending debate over what is the appropriate time to start playing Christmas music… and just like that, the holiday season is nearly over, save a round of Auld Lang Syne on New Year’s Eve.
As I’ve enjoyed the Christmas season from Chiang Mai, Thailand, I have been afforded the opportunity to listen through my Christmas music playlists many times over: from Charlotte Church to the Barenaked Ladies… to Brian Setzer Orchestra… to Straight no Chaser… even to the songs that make you wonder how in tarnation some artists ever were asked to record a Christmas track: do we really need Fun’s version of Sleigh Ride, or Chris Cornell’s rendition of Ave Maria?
I have no shame in admitting that I’m a Christmas music junkie. But there is one particular Christmas hymn that I think truly exemplifies what Christmas is all about.
Now I don’t want any hate mail for not including songs like Silent Night or O Little Town of Bethlehem on this list. Granted, it would be nice if Christ’s birth and the celebration surrounding the event were what this time of year was remembered for, but sadly that’s never going to be the case. As much as we as Christians can try to fight commercialism, I’m okay with admitting that we’re never going to get rid of Santa Claus, Frosty, Red-Rider BB Guns, Cousin Eddie, or any of the other nonsense that comes along with Christmas, so we may as well enjoy them as a nice side-bar to Christ’s birth.
That being said, here is a breakdown of a song that I believe best portrays the way that we should act during this time of year.
We could all use the spirit of King Wenceslas of Bohemia (who was actually a Duke, but was conferred the title of “King” after his death) inside of us during the Christmas season.
Wenceslas was known far and wide during the 10th century to be an incredibly kind and generous man, who famously walked in his bare feet to give alms to widows, orphans, prisoners, and the sick.
As the story goes, surrounding John Neale’s hymn, Wenceslas was enjoying the Feast of Stephen (a Christian holiday on Dec. 26, celebrated in some parts of the world in memory of St. Stephen, the original martyr, who was stoned to death by Saul), when he looked outside and saw a poor man gathering wood.
Wenceslas called his page to ask about this man, and told him to bring some food and drink to give to this vagabond.
The page and his master followed through forrest and snow to track this man down, in order to give him assistance. The page grew tired and wanted to turn back, but Wenceslas simply told him to trod in his footsteps, which would make the journey less difficult.
I find this to be a wonderful analogy of how we should follow Christ. Just like the page, we can’t possibly go through life on our own, and there are a lot of times when we may want to give up and choose an easier path to follow, but if we put Christ before us, and follow the direction that He sets before us, then we can find our way through any difficult situation.
The final line of this old hymn reads as follows, “Therefore, Christian men, be sure, wealth or rank possessing, Ye who now will bless the poor, shall yourselves find blessing.”
It’s easy to get wrapped up in the commercialism of Christmas, but it’s also easy to be a Christian snob and get worked up over anyone who decides to use the phrase, “Happy Holidays”, as opposed to “Merry Christmas”.
Even though we’re celebrating the birth of Christ, I think the greatest way that we can honor Christ is to act more like him and do what we can to serve others.
Wenceslas had the right idea. He knew what Christ stood for, and he wanted to imitate that lifestyle. We could all stand to be more like Good King Wenceslas.
