“The love we’ve found,
The love we’ve found,
We carry with us,
So we’re never quite alone.”
—
Beautiful lyrics, right? Too bad they’re from the Muppet Christmas Carol. That’s right… pieces of felt worn on the hand, shaped by Jim Henson’s “creature shop” into the likenesses of animals and cartoonish characters – they somehow harmoniously “sang” this song to end a movie that holds such a dear place in my heart, it’s really hard to describe.
And luckily, friends, I have the esteemed privilege of experiencing Christmas for the last three or four months of my year. With a Christmas album to produce, and a Christmas-theme dinner theater (“Dinner in December” at West Ridge Church) to plan, I’m up to my knees in Christmas cheer… and it’s only September.
I must say, I’m catching a little glimpse of what we always hear major recording artists saying on their infomercials when they’re promoting their X-mas albums: ”These songs are so near to my heart, and were such a joy to record. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Merry Christmas, and God Bless.”
*Cue deep-voiced-announcer-guy, and yellow-font song titles that appear in succession*
Whereas before I dismissed such hubbub as quickly as the Chia-Pet infomercial to follow, I’ve got to tell you… even though it’s a cheesy little cliche that will sell a ton of albums, it’s also very true. Maybe I judged ole’ Vince Gill a little too harshly. I will say, however, that mullet did him no justice on the album cover of “Let There Be Peace On Earth.” But I’ll cut him a break… that was 15 years ago.
You have no idea how deeply these songs have impacted you until you begin to rearrange them, recording them with a little bit of your own personal spin. They just fall right out of you, truly. And the feelings they conjure are just incredible. You feel like you’re 6 years old again, which in my case was almost 20 years ago. More for some of you, less for others. Regardless, I think all of us can clearly identify this specific feeling.
I’m celebrating it. I thank God that all my yearly celebrations of Jesus’ birth have carved out such a deep, wonderful place in my heart and in my spirit. How appropriate.
So I’ve gone ahead and whooped out the egg-nog.
-jc
3 responses so far ↓
Tony Calhoun // September 11, 2008 at 8:01 pm |
Thanks Jake for your efforts in your music. It is obvious your music comes from the heart.
Tony
Riatch // September 12, 2008 at 9:57 pm |
It’s in the singing of a street corner choir …
You’ve got to get a copy of the “A Muppets Christmas” record (well my copy’s vinyl) with John Denver. Throw in Michael Card’s “The Promise” and you’ve got all you need for Christmas cheer. Well maybe watching a video clip of Matt Wilmington lip-syncing the Chipmunks Christmas along with them.
Buddy girl // October 1, 2008 at 11:24 am |
Hey, Buddy! Every time I read your blog, I cry sweet tears. I’ve been meaning to give this entry a look ever since you told me you wrote about THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL. Over the past month or so, I’ve tried to form the habit during my morning Bible time of writing out 5 things every day for which I am grateful. This morning, I was thinking that I would read your blog about THE MUPPET… and I wrote down that I am grateful that our family had some precious traditions like watching that movie every year around the Holy days of Thanksgiving and Christmas. We still watch it dozens of times during that season of the year. It is a blessing beyond words and gives my heart such deep rest to know that you still hold on to a piece of those precious years when you were little. Now you are forming traditions of your own with your beautiful family. It is an honor to watch you guys function and relate and grow. I love you, Jacob!