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View Articles:
Good News, Great Joy!
Maranatha
How to Acquire True Humility
Good News, Great Joy!
December 18, 2008
“I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you;
he is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11)
There is a world of difference between the “good news of great joy” that the angel announced to a group of shepherds on that first Christmas and the lyrics of Hugh Martin’s 1943 classic “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”! How in the world did such a joyous proclamation sink into such melancholy?
Believe it or not, the version of “Merry Little Christmas” that most of us are familiar with has actually been made more jolly! Judy Garland protested that the original lyrics, that included such cheerful sentiments as: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past” and “Faithful friends who were dear to us / Will be near to us no more” were too depressing. So Martin changed them to: “Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight” Later Frank Sinatra insisted that he “jolly up” the line “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow.” So Martin changed it to “hang a shining star upon the highest bough.”(1)
Although Hugh Martin was able to make his lyrics more jolly, he could not put joy into his Christmas. Only Christ can do that. In 1960 Martin was hospitalized because of a nervous breakdown. Despairing that he would ever come out of his depression, he wandered the hospital campus until he came into a little chapel. There he cried: “O my God, I don't know whether I'm going to live or die or go crazy, but if you are there, please come to me. I will serve you for ever.”(2) That was the beginning of his journey to Christ.
In 2001, at the age of 86, Martin teamed up with John Fricke to write a “born-again” version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” It’s hard to miss the joy in the new lyrics.
Christmas future is far away/ Christmas past is past/
Christmas present is here to stay/ Bringing joy that will last/
Have yourself a blessed little Christmas/ Christ the King is born/
Let your voices ring upon this happy morn'/
Have yourself a blessed little Christmas/ Serenade the earth/
Tell the world we celebrate the Savior's birth/(3)
Feeling a little melancholic this Christmas season? I’d encourage you to stop trying to get into the “Christmas spirit” and instead let the “Spirit of Christ” fill you with his joy.
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas
(2)
http://www.vop.com/previous_broadcasts/2000/december_2000/s0052
(3)http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/jon/061222
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