I love Christmas time.  I'm sure I don't have to try to explain it in order for everyone out there to understand what I'm talking about when I say that it's magical.  Still, Christmas time is a bit different than when I was a kid since there are adult type stresses to worry about beyond considering whether I was overall naughty or nice this year.  So every year at this time I try to really think about what Christmas is ultimately about: what we're celebrating and how it all got started in the first place.  No one can argue that it is centered around the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (originally from Bethlehem) but for those of us who believe, it is more than that.  Or should I rather say He is more than that.  And every time I really get to thinking about it, I find my insides warm and fuzzy with affection.  Then Christmas is magical again. 

I say all of that to introduce something new I will be doing for a while.  I've decided to take some of my favorite Christmas carols, the ones we've been hearing on the easy-listening radio stations since the day after Halloween and the same ones that we've heard and sung along to since we were kids, and I am going to paraphrase them in modern language with my own interpretation.  I think paraphrasing is a sort of linguistic art form so this will be fun for me to exercise a bit of creativity and at the same time take the ho-hum out of old-time lyrics.  I hope you enjoy.  Now I'll start with my favorite:

O Holy Night
Composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" (Midnight, Christians) by Placide Cappeau
The Supernatural Night (although I like Placide's title, Midnight Christians," better)
Paraphrased by Ashley Breitenstein in 2009

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
What an extraordinary night!  The stars are brilliant,
It is the night of Our dear Saviour's birth.
Tonight's the night the Savior of the world is born.
Long lay the world In sin and error pining,
Too long the world's been broken; people so cruel, longing for better,
'Til He appear'd And the soul felt its worth.
Until God put on his birthday suit and touched the hearts of men and women.

A thrill of hope The weary world rejoices,
What a thrill to hope!  The discouraged world finally has a reason to celebrate,
For yonder breaks A new and glorious morn.
For this sunrise brings a new and wonderful day.

Fall on your knees! O, hear the angels' voices!
Faint like you're at a U2 concert!  The angels are rock stars tonight!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
This supernatural night when God's son was born;

O night divine, O night, O night Divine.
What an awesome night, what a night, a heavenly night.
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
Follow the comforting light that you can only see when you close your eyes,
With glowing hearts By His cradle we stand.
It will get brighter and warmer until it glows most intense by the side of Jesus.
So led by light of A star sweetly gleaming,
This is how it was to follow the bright star of David,
Here come the wise men From Orient land
When the wise men came from far away,
The King of Kings Lay thus in lowly manger;
To find such a powerful king wearing diapers;
In all our trials Born to be our friend.
Born in the midst of wartime, destined to be our most loyal ally.

He knows our need, To our weakness is no stranger,
Jesus knows what it's like, He's walked a thousand miles in your shoes.
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Open you eyes and see how great he is!  Men take a bow, ladies curtsy!
Behold your King, Behold your King. 
You're standing before the commander-in-chief of the world. 

Truly He taught us To love one another;
He demonstrated perfect brotherly love;
His law is love And His gospel is peace.
His number one rule is to love and His message is peace.
Chains shall He break For the slave is our brother;
He breaks all social barriers for no one person is greater than another;
And in His name All oppression shall cease.
And in the name of Jesus all cruelty is put to an end.
Sweet hymns of joy In grateful chorus raise we,
Let's sing happy songs to express our gratitude,
Let all within us Praise His holy name.
Let's applaud Jesus with every fiber of our bean. 

Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever,
Jesus Christ is the King of the world and everything in it!  For the rest of your life give Him the credit He deserves,
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.
Never stop talking about His capabilities and His fame.
His power and glory Evermore proclaim.
Never stop talking about what He's done for you, what He can do and how great He is.
 


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