For Christmas Day, instead of a new reflection, I want to read you something I wrote ten years ago. It’s a story about waiting—about how long God’s promises can feel, and how thin hope can wear.

A Christmas carol that starts like a cannon blast, “Joy to the World” releases all the build-up from Advent into an overwhelming chorus of joy.

A song that brings Advent anticipation into the present day, “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” refuses to rush us to Christmas morning.

The second Christmas carol to make us care about punctuation, “God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen” is not about cheerful festivity but about eternal freedom from fear.

“Go Tell It On the Mountain” brings the Great Commission right into the manger scene.

Two Christmas songs for children that make us ask how we respond to Christmas: “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (yes, really) and “Do You Hear What I Hear?”

A carol that, rather than telling the Christmas story, invites us into it, “O Come, All Ye Faithful” is an Advent pilgrimage.

An Epiphany carol that gets two-thirds of its own title wrong, “We Three Kings” is nonetheless a mainstay of Christmas music and invites us to explore where our own ideas of Christmas come from.

“The First Noël” speed-runs two different gospels, adds some confused astronomy, cultural imperialism, and some how finishes with Revelation, Creation, and the cross, all in one breath.

A Christmas carol that forces us to care about punctuation, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” tells us the story of all of history, gives a summary of the incarnation, summarizes an intense theology lesson, and presents the entire gospel all in one.