The Baby of Bethlehem is the topic of this very personal episode of the Merry Little Podcast.

We sing of Him in song and celebrate the Nativity as a part of every Christmas – but why?

Based on this sincere question from a listener we discuss the tender mercies of Christmas and the effect it has on the living and the dead.

How does one without faith makes sense of it all? Our listener celebrates the season year round, enjoys great traditions of family and joy, and yet cannot connect the merriment to the manger. He wants to understand without the preachy demands of church.

So we explore why The Baby is Christmas in simple, fundamental terms of truth.

We find that in these hard times The Baby is more relevant and important than ever.

What fascinates the most is that they knew He was coming. His birth was anticipated like no other and that theme of anticipation has carried over to our modern celebrations of Christmas thousands of years later.

But how can we celebrate Him in the shadow of Santa, Christmas trees, snowmen and stockings? We find that it is okay, that each of the elements of Christmas we cherish, even those of a secular nature, can add to the light of Christmas.

This episode features more new music from The Barefoot Movement with a great song titled I Just Wish It Would Snow. Please visit their YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBuoyYzXlguK3jkYjdiA7cQ for more great music.

Also featured is another great Christmas song from Angie Killian and Shawna Edwards. Their work – performed by children – teaches the beauty of the story of The Baby and we’re grateful for it.

This episode also features recent work by Santa’s Sleigh, a merry little outreach effort of the Merry Forums of MyMerryChristmas.com to give back each Christmas. This true story illustrates how the simple principle of anonymous giving elevates the many who focus on the one or the few.

We are pleased to present our annual and traditional episode of new Christmas music.

This is far and away our most popular episode every year and it has nothing to do with the host. These featured artists graciously offer up their music for review and allow us to include them in this special episode.

Evidently you love it too. Last year’s episode has not only been listened to more than a quarter of a million times it is still going strong, drawing downloads in the thousands weekly.

This episode is even better that one. With us approaching our 2nd pandemic Christmas these great Christmas creators are all conveying through their music exactly what it is that we feel, what we value in Christmas and how we want this Christmas to be.

It is, at the end of the day, all about love. We did not plan for this theme (or any theme at all) for this episode it has just spontaneously happened. Please listen and enjoy, especially for those artists who took the time to talk with us to share some of the backstories of these great songs.

We encourage you to visit these links below, to buy their songs and albums and to let them know through your own reviews how you feel about their music:

How Christmas Was Meant to Be – Track Dogs featuring The Barefoot Movement
Track Dogs Website: https://www.trackdogsmusic.com/
The Barefoot Movement Website: http://www.thebarefootmovementofficial.com/
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/trackdogs/how-christmas-was-meant-to-be-the-barefoot-movement-track-dogs
Bandcamp: https://trackdogs.bandcamp.com/track/how-christmas-was-meant-to-be

Wonderful One – Monica Scott and Angie Killian
Angie’s Website: http://angiekillian.com
Monica’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/youtube.com/c/MonicaScottMusic
Angie’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/youtube.com/angiekillianmusic

Love is Christmas – Jesse Terry
Website: https://www.jesseterrymusic.com

That Old Red Sleigh – Rehya Stevens
Website: https://rehyastevens.com

Lonely Christmas – Wallis
Wallis’ Website: https://iamwallis.com
More Links: https://linktr.ee/I_am_Wallis

Quarantine Christmas – Mike Mentz
Website: https://mikementz.com
Featured at: https://songwhip.com/various-artists/a-rock-by-the-sea-christmas-vol-12

Christmas Time – Mike Farley
Featured at: https://songwhip.com/various-artists/a-rock-by-the-sea-christmas-vol-12

The After Christmas Song – Bob Malone
Website: https://www.bobmalone.com
Featured at: https://songwhip.com/various-artists/a-rock-by-the-sea-christmas-vol-12

Christmas podcasts have exploded in number over the past couple of years. A decade ago there were just a handful of us podcasting Christmas. Now there are several hundred.

How do you sort all that out? What are the truly great podcasts of Christmas?

Sure, that is a subjective thing. But if you want a balanced look at the Best of Christmas Podcasts, we point you to a two-month project that surveyed listeners, Christmas publications, Christmas radio stations, Christmas communities, Christmas podcasters and podcast experts.

But that effort selected just 10 podcasts out of the hundreds online to identify. This merry little episode focuses on some other vote getters. We spotlight just a few more podcasts we think you need to know about.

First up is Totally Rad Christmas, a podcast that burst onto the scene last year with complete energy for the 1980s Christmas.

While that’s a podcast exploring the culture of Christmas from the 80s we dig deeper into a specific area of Christmas culture through the celebration of Christmas TV specials with Advent Calendar House podcast.

And finally we wrap it up with a comfortable old friend, Sounds of Christmas, who launched a new podcast – the Sounds of Christmas Podcast – this past year.

Listen to these great Christmas creators talk about their contributions to Christmas online and why you need to give them all a listen.

Christmas of the 20th Century continues with this new episode exploring the years from 1910 to 1919. It was an epic era of change fueled by World War I and a global pandemic.

But what was it really like?

Everything in the world was changing. During these years we went from horse-and-buggy to speedy automobiles. News was soon to be heard over the radio before it could be printed in newspapers. Houses were starting to become wired for electricity and life in the home was forever changed as technology made new appliances do the work that previously was nothing short of manual labor.

Christmas changed too — especially in movies and in music. The Victrola – a talking machine that recorded sound and played it back – became the must-have device of this decade. We tell the story of how recording and playback was done. It was advanced science for the times but primitive to us today. The fascinating story of the Columbia Record Company is told as it worked to bring recordings of large choral and orchestra groups to the mass market. This episode features lots of music from era and showcases just how far sound has come.

Movers and shakers, especially as it related to Christmas, include Norman Rockwell, who is featured prominently in this episode. We also explore the history of World War I and how that global event was affected by Christmas during each year of the war.

The decade closes with two major events: a global pandemic and the onset of Prohibition. These two changed everything about Christmas, with headlines that eerily mirror what we are experiencing today.

The future of Christmas present is definitely on the minds of many as we head into the New Year. What just happened? How do we explain the Christmas we just experienced?

Try as we might to predict ahead of time what Christmas 2020 would be like we still have been flooded with feedback about the Christmas we all just went through. For many of us, it was a Christmas unlike any other in our lifetime.

But – it’s not like history has not recorded a Christmas like this.

In this episode we look back to the Christmas of 1943 – a dark, unexpected, unusual and isolated Christmas that saw many separated from their families for the first time. Framed by Bing Crosby’s classic, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas”, the lessons of Christmas 1943 are learned through not only the sacrifices of those in our family past but also of those from every side who found a way for their humanity to command in a time of war.

We share the incredible story of a real combat mission flown over Germany on December 20th, 1943 when an American B-17 bomber commanded by Lt. Charles Brown was shredded by German air defenses and 15 German fighters. The tells the impressions of German Pilot Franz Stigler who couldn’t believe the American plane was in the air. His choices were stark: he could shoot them down and win Germany’s highest wartime honor for aviators or he could risk court martial and certain execution by allowing the B-17 to escape to safety.

It was a story not only of Christmas 1943 but one that took 50 years to resolve when Lt. Brown met Franz Stigler in the 1990s.

The lessons of humanity a there for us to learn from every Christmas. We also share a simple story of a loss we suffered on the Merry Forums – and how the discovery of our simple community taught a grieving daughter a new level of love from her Mother who spent so many years with us online.

This thoughtful episode contemplates but does not predict the Christmas coming to us next.

Instead it projects what Christmas can be — if we can only remember what it is all really about.

In this episode we celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas together with a mix of old and new. Thanksgiving — that All-American holiday of festive foods married with historical debates — get a look through the lens of pandemic past.

We explore the Thanksgiving of 1918 and how it was the same and how it was different. This conversation comes as a backdrop to modern-day calls to abolish Thanksgiving by The New York Times and The Atlantic. While we agree some liberties have been taken with the history of Thanksgiving we have to take a real-world look at what Puritans and Native Americans really have to do with the Thanksgiving we really celebrate.

But highlighting this episode even more is the fact that Thanksgiving, as always, sets the Christmas stage and helps build the delicious anticipation we all get in Santa Claus.

Our merry little Thanksgiving Gobble Contest has yielded some festive results that we shared include the laughter of my 5 year old grandson who grabbed the microphone to tell me a Christmas tale that happened in my home just last Christmas. Mind you, I’ve never heard this story before — and it is, as all Santa stories are — a legendary thing.

And that led to the debut of our first edition of our reading of A Visit from St. Nicholas – the Merry Forums sponsored event we call the Twas the Night Before Christmas Read-a-thon.

This is an activity we have talked about for years that we have finally made a reality. And it is a little production sure to produce a smile and loads of Christmas spirit.

We also share some more new music. A new song from Robyn Scott titled I Saw Santa Last Night brings a party feel to this episode.

Song Details:

Title:  I Saw Santa Last Night

Artist:  Robyn Scott

Writers:  Robyn Scott & Brian Dolph

Length:  2:54

BPM:  100

ISRC:  CA8ZW1900001

Let it Be Christmas – despite what 2020 has become. That is the theme and the message of this merry episode of the Merry Little Podcast that is filled with music.

We take a look back at our thoughts of Christmas just months ago and the predictions we made last spring about what this Christmas will be like. It’s here now — so how are we dealing with it?

We have some pretty serious issues, not the least of which is the unexpected mental toll this year has taken on many. Are you feeling it? Have you lost that loving feeling when it comes to Christmas?

Many have and we’re taking that topic head on. For some the thought to let it be Christmas is difficult to put the head around in a year like this. Where can we turn for inspiration?

We take a look back in history with two very different stories. We discuss George Washington’s Christmas at Valley Forge and how Christmas saved things for him when the Continental Congress could help him not at all. The lessons of General Washington are a ponderous thing for those of us struggling to find the Christmas we believe in.

We also tell the story of Archie Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt. This one is a little more light-hearted but its lessons are the same: that we need and even crave the love, warmth and security of a Christmas well-celebrated and that we will go far to get it.

Christmas for many this year — and Thanksgiving too, for that matter – is one many are having to reach far for.

How is that done?

While we do not claim to have the answers we do have some suggestions. It is something we can work on together. And for many, it is something we can over come together.

Please join us at the Merry Forums of My Merry Christmas, where we have ideas of plenty about the virtual Christmas and the things we can do together to let it be Christmas.