In December
We give our gifts
Wishing well to our world
Peace on Earth to everyone
A time to be joyful
When all is calm and all is bright
December Song Peter Hollens
You most likely first learned about Peter Hollens through one of his videos on YouTube that has been shared widely during the holiday season, whicn features him sitting in a church with five or more versions of himself as he sings a song a capella and does all of the parts for the song.
Hes built an impressive YouTube career out of covering popular tunes in an a capella style while doing all of the parts (or collaborating with another artist). December Song is a Hollens original, part of his 2016 A Hollens Family Christmas album.
Hollens is a classically-trained musician, graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in vocal performance. He competed with his a capella group, On The Rocks, in NBCs The Sing Off show, and though the group was eliminated fairly early,
Hollens spun the experience into a YouTube channel that began in 2011. From the more than three million YouTube subscribers he has and the shares of his music on various platforms, his music has been heard more than a billion times in less than 15 years.
December Song looks to the feelings of the holiday season, when we all seem to find charity and goodwill toward fellow man in our hearts – something that unfortunately seems to be much less common throughout the rest of the year.
The song questions why thats a feeling just in December and not all year long.
Sunday begins a new church year for many Christian denominations, with the celebration of the first Sunday in Advent. Advent has become much more well-known lately as an excuse to purchase or create candy- or toy-filled countdown daily calendars through the month of December, up to Christmas Day.
Heck, one of my fellow baseball writers has a side business creating and selling baseball card Advent calendars that have a different baseball card item each day, whether thats a pack of cards or a specific card that the child is looking for of a favorite player or team. He earned more from his baseball card Advent calendars last year than he did in the whole fourth quarter in his sales job.
Oh, and hes selling these Advent calendars as a side business, and hes Jewish!
So what exactly is Advent?
Traditionally, Advent was a time of fasting and preparation for the coming of the Christ child in Christian faiths. The first mention of Advent in any historical documentation is in instructions to monks at the Council of Tours of 567 for fasting and prayer for the month before Christmas.
In other words, Advent has been celebrated within the church for nearly 1,500 years!
Churches often have an Advent wreath or a set of candles used to mark down the Sundays of the season.
Advent begins on a different day each year, with the first Sunday of Advent celebrated on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. That means that Advent can begin any day between Nov. 27 and Dec. 3.
This also means that using a holdover Advent calendar from year to year will have unused or extra days, depending on the year, which also helps out those who sell the niche item, because its much easier to get a calendar each year thats specifically crafted for that year.
The German Lutheran church introduced the tradition of the Advent calendar in the late 19th century, and the tradition quickly spread to this area of the United States due to the connection to German Lutheran roots and the most well-known Advent calendars now contain different pieces of candy or chocolate for each day of the season.
Reusable Advent calendars often start on Dec. 1 and go to Christmas Day, and this year happens to be a year where that calendar fits the actual days of Advent.
No word whether thats hurt the baseball card Advent calendar business this year.
In the Huron area, by the time youre reading this, well have already enjoyed the communitys Parade of Lights, an inaugural Christmas tree lighting ceremony is taking place this morning, and dozens more activities are scheduled for the next four weeks.
This coming week features one of the highlights of our communitys willingness to serve and give, the Salvation Army Christmas Basket program, featuring the musical talents of many in the community with the purpose of raising funds to provide a holiday meal for those less fortunate.
Take a breath over the next few weeks and look at the peace and goodwill of the community around you. Really, truly look at it.
As Hollens asks, why cant this be carried forward after the holiday season? We count down, through pieces of chocolate, a season that we really should be observing to understand why we struggle to replicate that feeling and care for one another in the same way year-round.
The chocolate is pretty good, but theres more here than portioned-out candy…
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