And here, completely unsolicited, are the lyrics for my "Christmas song."
Holiest of Nights
Words and music by Bret Holtz
(
2000 GrunzleWorks - ASCAP. All rights reserved)
It might be easy to regard me with scorn
when you think about the night
Jesus was born
I was the one who stood there at the door
and said, “All my rooms are taken
I don’t have any more.”
I know you think the Earth stood still
to hear the angels sing
The world in solemn stillness lay
maybe in your dreams
I had twenty people sleeping
in five little rooms that night
Every single one complaining,
not a thing I did was right
My wife was in the kitchen,
she’d been there all day
And my boys,
who should have been asleep
Were in the stable, pitchin’ hay
My heart sank when a young man knocked and asked me for a room
His wife was just a child herself,
with a baby coming soon
The little town of Bethlehem
was far from still that night
There were people sleeping in the streets
The world was going wild
But for a moment short and sweet
a light of hope burned bright
In those tired and frightened eyes
That holiest of nights
My wife would have killed me
if I’d turned those two away
So I took them to the stable,
and my boys threw down more hay
We emptied out the manger,
tied the animals outside
I said, “It’s not the place to have a child
But at least it’s safe and dry.”
A long time after midnight
I finally closed my eyes
But in the early hours I rushed outside
when I heard a baby cry
The little town of Bethlehem
was far from still that night
There was no deep or dreamless sleep
around that little child
But for a moment, short and sweet
a light of hope burned bright
Against the shadows of this world
That holiest of nights
Then shepherds came with crazy tales
of angels in the sky
The sun came up, and we went on
with our hectic, busy lives...
On my way into Jerusalem
to celebrate the feast
I saw three poor souls get crucified
it was a shameful sight to see
There were two thieves, and a rabbi
I’d heard preaching once or twice
So I asked a woman what he’d done
and she turned with tearful eyes
A shock of recognition
sent shivers through my soul
She was the woman, he was the child
From my stable all those years ago!
The little town of Bethlehem
was far from still that night
when a king was born to live and die
and rising, bring us all to life
But from that moment, ever on
a light of hope burns bright
when we celebrate with grateful hearts
with peaceful souls
with tearful eyes
When we celebrate with grateful hearts
That holiest of nights
