Santa Baby?

This is the fifth in a series of Christmas posts written by my brother, Tom.  Enjoy.

I have always had a soft spot for holiday music and often tune into the local radio station that begins playing holiday tunes in mid November non-stop through December.  It never fails to put me into the right holiday spirit.  One evening as I drove home in the early dusk that is a part of our cold wet Decembers, the song The Christmas Shoes came on the radio. It was the first time this season I had heard it.  As the music played, I listened intently:

“Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please

 It’s Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size

 Could you hurry, sir, Daddy says there’s not much time

You see she’s been sick for quite a while

And I know these shoes would make her smile

And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight.”

Well, every sentimental emotion in my soul welled up. The sweet selfless innocence of the little boy, thoughts of my childhood, memories of my mother, now passed remembrances of my cousins who had lost their mother in childhood.  All of these memories came flooding in an instant.  I was still dabbing my tears when the next tune that filled the silence was Santa Baby by Madonna.  In a “Betty Boop” breathless voice I hear:

“Santa baby, slip a sable under the tree, for me

 I’ve been an awful good girl

 Santa baby, and hurry down the chimney tonight.”

I was simply not prepared for the contrast of those two tunes and felt emotionally dizzy.  I needed a Bing Crosby version of White Christmas or Silver Bells to softly set me back into reality. 

As I thought about the range of emotions so many of us feel during the holiday season, it occurred to me that the extremes in those tunes are not much different than life, with one interesting note, who the focus is on.  Rick Warren’s best selling book The Purpose Driven Life opens with the sentence, “It’s not about you.”  A long time has passed since I first experienced the selfless joy of giving a Christmas gift to another.  I remember saving my pennies or working for days preparing a home- made gift that only a mother could love, but real joy came in giving. 

But think about it.  At Christmas, it is about you! The angels declared that unto us a child is born, unto us a child is given. And God declared that he loved the world so much that he gave is one and only son.  At Christmas we remember that God has given an eternal gift to us. 

Photo Credit:  red shoe - superweddingshoes.com
Photo Credit: silver bells - 123rf.com
Photo Credit:  Nativity Scene - almightydad.com
Link to youtube video of Madonna singing Santa Baby http://youtu.be/5ycWObpi73Y
Link to you tube video of Bing Crosby's White Christmas http://youtu.be/tRYPWlyU_Zk