♫ It's beginning to look a lot less Holy-day ♫

Ah, the holidays. Every year at about this time the cold weather starts to set in (although not today) and the Christmas holiday approaches.

The Christmas Carol that is tightly connected for me is "The Little Drummer Boy" by the Vienna Boys Choir. I love that song. The part that always strikes me funny about it is the fact that here is this little drummer boy going to meet the baby Messiah -- THE ONE -- true Son of God sent to save the world from itself and he feels disturbed that he doesn't have anything to bring. For us now, this seems silly and selfish maybe, as none of us ever got to see Jesus during that tim. Go to the baby, we want to say, See the good news of His birth and touch the hem of His garment and move on! I mean seriously, He has stuff to do and that right soon.

What is silly about it is that here the Little Drummer Boy is there with himself and his drums and his ruminations that he has nothing much to give the new born King. He strikes upon the brilliant idea of going and playing for the Savior, since that is all he has... or at least, that is what he thinks. He forgets that he does indeed have a DRUM. This is the King of the World, the SON OF GOD! Why didn't this brainchild of a drummer think to GIVE HIM THE DRUM? Hmph.

Of course, perhaps this was wiser to keep the drum for himself in retrospect. I mean, granted, Jesus brought into his flock, Lepers, Romans, the sick, the dying, the unclean, criminals... so it would logically assume that He would naturally extend his hand to the next lowest element of society: drummers.

What if young Jesus had taken a liking to the drums? What if he had eventually taught himself to play? This would have been very bad indeed. I mean, I'm sure even in biblical times, drummers couldn't shake their bad-boy image. But what bothers me more when considering this is what normally happens to drummers, ... still living in their parent's basement at 35 and never amounting to nothing.

Can you picture it? Mary & Joseph, with irritated concern, call down their steps to their grown-up Son as He plays on his drum. "Hey Jesus, you ever gonna go out and get a job or something, I don't know, save the world?" his mother would shout. "No mom! Just leave me alone and let me play my drums!" rat tat tat tat... Then where would we be without a savior?