Is it OK to Listen to Christmas Music Before December?

Every year, starting in late August, shoppers complain that while browsing patio furniture clearance sales at the local department store, Christmas music can be heard. We shake our heads and agree that this seems to happen earlier every year. We are shocked - shocked! - at the crass commercialization of the holiday.

Everyone knows that the yuletide season shouldn't start until Thanksgiving midnight when the stores open.

Some, Christians mostly, insist that they won't acknowledge Christmas one moment before the first Sunday in Advent, the church’s official four weeks leading up to the celebration of Christ's birth.

In theory I've agreed, and yet, as I fight to hold off ho-ho-hoing until the church says it's ok, I've started to reconsider my position on the subject. Must we limit holiday happiness to a set of rigid dates?

December 25, after all, is not really Jesus' birthday, but a date selected by the early church to coincide with the return of the sun after the winter solstice (and to usurp more ancient heathen celebrations occurring at the same time).

So why do we have to wait until some date on the calendar before we start whistling Jingle Bells? What about that old Dickensian adage that we should keep Christmas in our hearts all year around? What Dickens meant, in part, was that it's ok to enjoy Christmas TV reruns when they are shown in July.

Most of December is just one rush rush rush after another - from obligatory work parties to attending your friends' kids' concerts. It's exhausting. But amidst all the craziness, music can provide a nice break. Sometimes a particular tune takes us back to another time, a happy holiday in the past. Oh sure, there is seasonal music we don't care for. I know a woman who practically goes homicidal when "Santa Baby" comes on. I personally chafe at heavy-metal versions of Little Drummer Boy. But overall, I'm always happy to start hearing the familiar tunes in the stores.

This year, I set up my Pandora holiday channels in early November. I may even get some decorations out before Thanksgiving. Mind you, at noon on January 1, I'll shut off the music and take down the lights. I know that according to the church, Christmas lasts until January 6, but come on, a person can only stand so much.

Winter, Like Laundry, Just Keeps Coming Back

No matter how much laundry you do, there's always going to be more. We don't stop wearing clothes just because clean laundry is folded on the closet shelves (or in my case, just tossed into the closet somewhere).

The trash can in the kitchen also continues to fill no matter how empty we try to keep it.

And dishes: any given evening after cleaning up, we admire the gleaming kitchen, counters free of all used plates and pots, the dishwasher rhythmically cleansing the residue of dinner away. It is never long before the first dirty glass appears. You just got everything washed up and now it's messy again!

Life never stops, even when we want it to.

We don't stop consuming beverages just because the dishes are done. The laundry basket doesn't stay empty - you toss a little into it every day, eventually stuffing it beyond overflowing, and finally you have no choice but to wash a load.

I suppose you could think of it as the circle of life: like birth and death, over and over again. Autumn is a good time to contemplate life's cycles, like the rotation of the seasons, one right after the other, repeatedly over time.

Winter is kind of like laundry. You think it's behind you but it always comes back with its dark nights and cold weather. What happened to summer? Wasn't it just a few days ago that every window was open? And even though we've barely recovered from the last round, it's time to prepare for the holidays again.

The years roll by faster and faster, like the washer's final spin cycle. Which reminds me, I need to do a load.