Bethlehem Morning

Believers or not, Christmas has something for everyone if they simply let the meaning of it become more important than the frills that have come to define it. It is harder for many of us today because we have (in my opinion) had a fundamentalist avalanche of expectations and distortions often losing what that message was about. Don't we all want unconditional love? It's no wonder this story of such a love has resonated through the centuries.

Jesus was not born in December-- assuming he was born with any possible resemblance to the story most of us have been taught. The story has been so covered in mythologies, which may or may not be historic, that the message has often been all but forgotten.

At Christmas, whether you think about Santa Claus or an infant child, the story is about a gift. To celebrate Christmas, does it matter if there is a physical, historical reality attached to any of it if we instead celebrate the kind of love that offers without asking anything in return? It can take a lifetime to really understand the meaning of that kind of love.

The first time I heard the following song, a definitely religious one, was in a small country church. It was a crowded Christmas service and I was up in the balcony. Our pastor at that time sang it and chills went down my spine as it soared through that small sanctuary. Today my perspective on what happened in Bethlehem might have changed but not my belief in what it stands for, the kind of love that gives all, that lasts as long as life itself and just possibly beyond.

Bethlehem Morning

I can't resist adding this version because the male vocalist sings it as well as that pastor did the first time I heard it.

Bethlehem Morning by Hugh Jackman in concert