I’m ready for Christmas. I haven’t completed all my shopping yet, but I’ve done a lot of it already. I have my lights up on my house. Actually, our son gives us an anniversary gift every year (November) of paying a company to put up Christmas lights on our house. We love it. I’m getting too old to crawl up on the roof. I used to do that! I was responsible for the outside, and Kathy would take care of the inside. She overdoes it every year. She puts up three, four, and sometimes five trees in various rooms of the house. She has a huge Christmas Spirit. Kathy has Christmas music playing 24/7! Well, maybe not that much, but if you walk into our house, the chances are good you’ll hear some of the good old Christmas songs we all know so well. Music is extremely important at this time of year, and the air is filled with the sounds of Christmas just about everywhere you go. I’m trying to focus on the true meaning of Christmas this season (as usual) amidst the hype of the “holiday” season.
L. Wilson wrote some special little devotionals for Christmas. One of the was “No L.” Speaking of the true meaning of Christmas, There’s something I just don’t get. Why do we sing No “L” every Christmas? Could you imagine a Christmas without the letter “L?” Without “L,” we could not talk about Jesus bringing eterna_ _ife into the wor_d. Wasn’t that the purpose of the virgin birth, the chi_d in the manger, the ange_s on high, the shepherds in the fie_d, and the kings with the gifts? How can we tell people about God’s _ove without the letter “L?” John 3:16 just wouldn’t be the same. “For God so _oved the wor_d that He gave …” Christmas is a celebration of _ove. Because God _oved us and gave, we give to those we _ove. What would Christmas be without _aughter? How can we express our joy when we watch our chi_dren open their presents? The conversation around the dinner tab_e wou_d be so ordinary. We’d lose the joy.
What’s that? Oh, it’s not No “L” we sing, it’s Noel. The dictionary entry says: No-el (noh-el) n. (In carols) Christmas. It’s just another word for Christmas. Well, in that case, never mind. Merry Noel to you.” Adding to what Wilson says, the wonderful Wikipedia says: “Noel (also spelled Nowell or Noël) (nəʊˈɛl) is an alternative word for Christmas. It first entered the English language in the 14th century. The word comes from Middle English noel, which derives from the Old French word noël and its more common form naël. The English spelling “Noël” is taken directly from modern French, which also derives from Old French. The ultimate Latin origin is the phrase nātālis (diēs), “(day) of birth”. Anyway, I wish you a very happy “No L” day!