I didn,t know Rascal Flats from The Little Rascals, but they performed a late November rendition of "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" to an electric fiddle. Brad Paisley awed the audience and silenced the seraphim with an acoustic version of "What Child Is This?" I confess I watched them, though I'm not a country fan (my pickup isn't worth a song) and I think the early season is about the bucks (I don't mean reindeer.)
When I was young, it didn't start until Dec. 24. That's when cooking began, church clothes were assigned, and, in the magic of the night, Christmas suddenly appeared. Despite its brief duration, it was all good. The new boots, a speed-boasting sled, even the treats in those Santa-sized stockings had something to do with that. It was also Christmas dinner, out-of-town cousins, and a week off school with the hope of snow.
That's really why I joined the Anti Early Christmas Coalition. The crass commercialism and the loss of Advent expectation were only convenient arguments. I fact, my inner child was scared to death that thinking about Christmas too early would jinx the day, somehow sap the special from it, mute its meaning and make it less that the greatest single day on earth.
But that's a Christmas all wrapped up in me. Watching people sing along to "O Holy Night" wiping tears from their eyes now seemed more than sentiment. It didn't make any difference that Christmas was still almost a month away. The hymns struck a chord, touched them, maybe even changed them.
People start Christmas on Black Friday, but for many it's more than outside lights and snowflake sweaters. They say Merry Christmas way too early, but they mean it, because the memory of a Child has filled them with warmth. They greet the bell ringers at every store and toss money in the kettle. They grab names from the Jesse tree, write checks to charities, and make sure the poor are fed because there should be room at the inn. That feeling of Christmas, its grace if you wish, broadens their vision and opens their hearts.
If Christmas has this much power, I shouldn't care when it starts.
