Finding the Real Jesus in the Music of ChristmasSample

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

This song has no obvious religious references and was almost certainly not meant to point towards the birth of Jesus, as many Christmas songs are. But truth is truth no matter where you find it. And we can certainly find truth in this Sinatra classic. So, let’s dive in!

Just as in a couple of the other songs we have looked at, this song looks to the future with hope. There is acknowledgment that friends provide hope, lack of problems provides hope, and clarity of the future provides hope. This song admits there were good times in the past “Once again as in olden days, happy golden days of yore,” and those days will return “next year all our troubles will be out of sight.”

What makes this a Christmas song? Other than the title and fact that it is played at Christmas time? The idea is that on Christmas Day, our hearts should be light, and we should be merry, anticipating this better future. So, while this song doesn’t directly reference Jesus, there is only one reason Christmas, as opposed to any other holiday, should remind us of this future hope. And that, of course, is the birth of Jesus. And though Christmas has become a huge holiday for many, many people – believers or not – Jesus’ birth was the original and truest reason for Christmas celebrations. It is okay to be lighthearted on Christmas because, in the future, our troubles will be miles away.