The evidence is mounting. I’m aging… Sore back, sore shoulder, sore hip, huge forehead, gray beard and a fondness for Christmas.
That’s right… Christmas. I have slowly been coming around to the season. In recent years I have actually found that I like the lights, the smells, the sounds and the spirit of the Christmas season.
In my past, I have always disliked holidays and birthdays. To this day I do not celebrate my birthday. To be honest, I am not very comfortable hanging out at other people’s houses for holiday/birthday celebrations. It’s a quirk.
This year I went to Ste. Genevieve (my home away from home) and walked the streets of the historic district. The town had everything decorated. The old buildings and the mellow atmosphere of this town relax me. I walked the street and imagined that it was the 1930’s at Christmas time… You know, before people turned “Merry Christmas” into “Happy Holidays”. I sincerely enjoyed just walking around and absorbing the atmosphere and the spirit that is uniquely Christmas.
On December 19th, I went to the Sheldon concert hall in St. Louis to see Peter Mayer‘s “Stars and Promises” Christmas concert. He’s been doing it for 12 years now and I think I’ve only missed it twice. The show is all Christmas music (some traditional and some original) performed by AMAZING musicians. This year the band consisted of Peter Mayer, Marc Torlina, Mark Holland, R Scott Bryan, Chris Walters, Melanie Joy and Brendan Mayer. They play many different styles of music and the show is fantastic.
Peter reminded us at the show that the Greatest Gift was sent to us and this is the reason for the season. Christ is born! He challenged us all to take in the concert and the message but to take it out the doors and to the hurting world. Even the littlest things we say and do can greatly impact others. Peter told a heart warming story about a mother and her handicapped son as he introduced a song he wrote called “Junkman’s Christmas Eve”. This is a very special song that finds all the band members playing ‘junk’ or really bad instruments but still managing to sound amazing. Check it out below!!
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I hope everyone is having a great Christmas season. Please take a moment to do something kind for someone. And above all… Remember the precious gift that is Jesus Christ!