1. A favorite ‘secular’ Christmas song. Well for me this is easy. “Im Dreaming of a White Christmas.” Its one of my faves because having grown-up in ND, I dont remember a Christmas that wasnt white. I also like “I’ll be Home for Christmas.”
2. Christmas song that chokes you up (maybe even in spite of yourself–the cheesier the better)
I cant really think of one that chokes me up. However growing up I remember Silent Night always made my mom cry. It is one of her faves!
3. Christmas song that makes you want to stuff your ears with chestnuts roasted on an open fire. There aren’t too many Christmas songs that I dont like but if I had to chose, Id probably pick Chestnuts roasting on an open fire.
4. The Twelve Days of Christmas: is there *any* redeeming value to that song?
Discuss. You know I wish I could say that there is some redeeming value to that song but it sure does get old after awhile. Maybe a redeeming value is that it talks about love a little.
5. A favorite Christmas album-So this one is extremely hard for me because I love to play my Christmas music. However I stick mostly with Christian artists. When it comes down to it, my fave Christmas Cds are Go Fish-More Than a Story and Go Fish- Snow. Snow is their newest Christmas cd and it ranks right up there with their first Christmas cd so I cant pick between the two!
Hey Tara-
I randomly was reading your blog today and what not it got me to remember that I got this from a church bulltin from many years ago and it talks about how the 12 Days of Christmas was actually written for Children to help them remember differant things throughout the Church. The “true Love” is of course God and then the one who recieves the things is us… the church.. Anways here is the break down of the days copied out of the bullitin i had stuffed in my bible.
1st Day: The partridge in a pear tree is Christ Jesus upon the Cross. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because she would feign injury to decoy a predator away from her nestlings. She was even willing to die for them.
The tree is the symbol of the fall of the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve. It is also the symbol of its redemption by Jesus Christ on the tree of the Cross.
2nd Day: The “two turtle doves” refers to the Old and New Testaments.
3rd Day: The “three French hens” stand for faith, hope and love—the three gifts of the Spirit that abide (1 Corinthians 13).
4th Day: The “four calling birds” refers to the four evangelists who wrote the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—which sing the song of salvation through Jesus Christ.
5th Day: The “five golden rings” represents the first five books of the Bible, also called the Jewish Torah: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
6th Day: The “six geese a-laying” is the six days of creation.
7th Day: The “seven swans a-swimming” refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord.
8th Day: The “eight maids a milking ” reminded children of the eight beatitudes listed in the Sermon on the Mount.
9th Day: The “nine ladies dancing” were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
10th Day: The “ten lords a-leaping” represents the Ten Commandments
11th Day: The “eleven pipers piping” refers to the eleven faithful apostles.
12th Day: The ‘twelve drummers drumming” were the twelve points of belief expressed in the Apostles’ Creed: belief in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, made man, crucified, died and arose on the third day, that he sits at the right hand of the father and will come again, the resurrection of the dead and life everlasting.
Enjoy the Christmas season. I am off to go write some more on my paper. Peace out. Love ya!