We Need a little christmas right now
Rev. Tracey Quillen
Haul out the holly
Put up the tree before my spirit falls again
Fill up the stocking
I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now
For we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute
These warm inviting words of Jerry Herman seem to be decorating the living rooms of families all over America right now. Many of us have been living in such a place of uncertainty that we are ready to embrace an advent of Hope and Love and Inclusivity. We are ready to shed the darkness of uncertainty and have something to look forward too.
Do you remember your first Christmas? Were you a family that went into the woods and cut down your Christmas tree? Were you a family that mulled spices on the stove top filling the air with scents of cinnamon and cloves? Were you a family of Christmas cookies, rolling out the dough of your favorite snowmen and jingle bells? Were you a family that listened to children’s choirs sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowmen and then curl up at home to watch the claymation series of the same? My favorite was The Little Drummer Boy.
Do you remember how it starts? An orphan boy, Aaron, watches as his little sheep friend, Baba, is hit by a charging soldier down the cobbled streets. Aaron calls out and rushes to its side and cradles his friend in his arms. The little lamb cannot die. Aaron remembers the “kings” are in town. Surely, they will know what to do. They are kings. They can fix the little lamb.
Aaron rushes to the stable where a crowd has gathered. Aaron approaches one of the kings and pleads for him to help the little lamb. Do you remember what the wise king says? “Ah, there is nothing I can do.” And Aaron says with a tear sliding down his cheek, “But you are a king.” And the Maji responds, “A mortal king only, but there is a king among kings that can save your little friend.” “The babe?” exclaims Aaron. And my favorite line is, “But I have no gift to bring.” Parumpa pum pum. Rumpa pum pum. Ok, fess up. Anyone else’s eyes watering? Not a word is uttered. The little drummer boy seeks that internal – eternal, guidance. “Shall I play for you?” Aaron closes his eyes and begins to play his drum.
When do we do this? When do we go inside and simply listen for our internal, eternal guidance and follow it? When do we release the outer world and simply, from the heart, play our drums?
The narrator says, Mary nodded…parumpa pum pum. Mother Mary, who represents our intuitive side, our Inner Knowing, looks upon the young child and nods. She joins him in the rhythm of the heart, nodding, encouraging. The claymation camera scans the gathered crowd, “The ox and lamb kept time, parumpa pum pum.” As the rhythm of the heart plays, the crowd nods too.
“I played my drum for him,” parumpa pum pum, rumpa pum pum. There is no other gift to give but the whole of who you are.
“And he smiled at me.”
Parumpa pum pum.
“Me and my drum.”
The little drummer boy realized there was so much more to the babe wrapped in swaddling cloth, lying in a manger. Remember, Aaron had been filled with anger at the misgivings and misfortunes in his life and how he had been treated. When he looked upon the babe, he felt the mystical forces of the power of Love and Forgiveness. Holding onto his anger and emotions of unfairness melted, not because things had not happened in Aaron’s life to cause these attachments, but because to hold onto them was hurting Aaron and no one else. To find this deep sense of peace meant to release – to release what no longer served him.
What is it in our lives that we are ready to let go of? Is there any place in our hearts that needs to be in the Stillness and simply Listen? Listen to our Inner Knowing and play our drum? Parumpa pum pum. Rumpa pum pum. Rumpa pum pum.
