One of my most cherished childhood memories is making plates of holiday treats. Every year my mother would emerge from the pantry, arms overflowing with typical ingredients like flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and other holiday only items like those little gold dragees that we used to top the sugar cookie Christmas trees .
Just as essential as to the baking process were the stack of 33s stored in the credenza next to the nativity set. I loved those Christmas albums. Some we bought but most were handed out in November at the gas station when you got your tank filled. They featured a potluck assortment of singers. I can picture the faces of Mel Torme, Doris Day, Jim Neighbors, and Mahalia Jackson smiling at me from the record cover. My sister and I belted along in Spanish to Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” and giggled our way thru John Denver’s “Please Daddy, don’t get drunk this Christmas.”
But the song that always gave me goose bumps as I rolled out sugar cookies was “Do You Hear What I Hear?” It was as if Bing Crosby were asking me personally, “Do you see what I see? Heather, do you see the star?” The song would stay with me as we loaded up the station wagon and delivered plates of cookies to neighbors and friends. On the drive home, I remember laying in the way back of the car (seat belts were optional in the 70s) and staring out the back window at all the stars, and feeling blessed by them. Each one a small echo of the star that shone on the stable, alerted the shepherds, and guided the wise men. “Yes,” my heart said. “I see what you see.”
Fast-forward 15 years to the hills above Bethlehem. A big part of the Jerusalem study abroad is to trace the steps of the Savior. One night we stood huddled in the cold as our professor talked to us about what it must have been like to be a shepherd on that night of nights. He read to us from Luke 2. “Yes,” I thought. “I’ve heard this all before. The taxes, the innkeeper, the swaddling clothes.” But to my surprise, the words from verses13-14 pierced my heart: “And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” I closed my eyes and imagined I could hear the angels sing their message, voices full of joy and praise. On that hill, for just a moment, I heard what the lamb heard, and it warmed my soul.
Now I am the mom, hauling out the flour and dragees (Which are sometimes illegal in California–go figure.) and my ever growing collection of Christmas CDs. As we bake we take turns controlling the iPod. I let them play Glee’s version of “Last Christmas” and then I get to crank Judy Collin’s “The Cherry Tree Carol.” They are learning the lyrics to the carols and last night I heard the 8 year-old serenade her 5 year-old sister on the top bunk with the sweetest version of “Silent Night.” I listened in and wondered, do they know what I know? That though life is tough, there is peace to be found in the Gospel of Christ. Truly, He will bring us Goodness and Light.
9 Responses
I LOVE this post! I can really say it warmed my soul. I wish so badly I could have walked those steps you walked in Bethlehem because that exact verse is the verse that always gives me the chills. I just imagine that singing and all the glory and it’s a million times better than imagining any other fairytale or fantasy.
Interestingly enough, my mom discovered recently that no where in the scriptures does it say that the angels sung at Jesus’s birth. They said something sure enough. But singing?
I’d love to hear if someone finds an example to the contrary, I’ve already checked the German Bible . . .
Thank you for this uplifting post Heather. I’m a little bit closer to enjoying the season now. 🙂 The thought of the first music associated with the birth of Christ is one of the few things that fills my soul with light and joy at this time of year.
What a beautiful post. Just last night my family tried our first ever night of trying to sing Christmas songs as we picked out the melody with one hand on the piano. Needless to say, the 1 year old just wanted to pound on the keys, and the four year old lost interest within a minute, but I think these Christmas traditions are pretty cool. Thanks for sharing yours with us.
The smell of cookies baking, the simple joys of Christmas at home! Thank you for this lovely post. It’s got me in the mood. As for Christmas albums, Karen Carpenter singing carols in that clean, clear voice of her’s always makes me nostalgic. The Vienna Boy’s Choir, John Denver, and Elvis too!
I taught RS this past week and focused on angels in the Christmas story and that phrase “peace on earth, good will toward men”. It didn’t go over quite like I’d planned, but preparing it did get me focused on the miracles in my life, large and small. You said – “…there is peace to be found in the Gospel of Christ. Truly, He will bring us Goodness and Light.” Amen.
What a wonderful post to start of the season, Heather. I love that image of the 1970’s version of you laying in the car looking at the stars and saying “yes.” The innocence and profundity of that image have done my heart good today. Thank you!
Heather, do you have any recipes for the above pictured cookies or the Christmas tree cookies mentioned? Those white ones look really cool! I’d love to start a tradition like your mother’s with my new little family.
I have to do a plug here…if you enjoyed this post of Heather’s on Christmas, you should check out our winter issue of Exponent II. She has another piece featured in the “Exponent Generations” feature 🙂
Great post as always, Heather!
Thanks for painting a picture for me of your family traditions and the testimony you have of the Savior. I love you!