The words to the song begin, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go.” That’s true. All along our street, the houses are just dripping with icicle lights and doors and windows are decorated with green wreaths and red bows. It is, indeed, looking a lot like Christmas.

There is something else going on, too. It’s beginning to sound a lot like Christmas.

At the nursing home, where one of our precious members lives, the door bell has to be rung if you want to enter. I suppose that is to keep some out and some in, whatever the case may be.

As I rang the doorbell and prepared to enter, the dining room, which also doubles as an activity room, was full of the sounds of joy. A local senior choir was singing the songs of Christmas and a good time for all was a matter of fact.

There is a song in our Methodist Hymnal and I would think it is in most other denominations’ hymnals also. It’s a song of the season by the name, “There’s a Song in the Air.” No doubt about it. The Christmas season is like no other when it comes to songs and singing.

The songs of Christmas come as surely as the day of Thanksgiving and about the same time. People try very hard to wait until Thanksgiving to begin their decorations for Christmas and as soon as the trees and lights begin to appear, so do the songs. At least in my mind they do.

Most of the time it’s “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” that is the first of the songs. This year, “Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas” was not too far behind. A day or two later, Little Bit, my dog, had to listen to my Bing Crosby imitation as I sang “White Christmas.” I’m not sure he was too impressed.

Do some of those songs get stuck in your head for a while? Whichever one I get started on, it seems to be the only one I think of for a few hours. The craziest one so far this year has been “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth.”

At the nursing home, it was clear that the songs of Christmas are truly songs of joy. Make that double-joy. By that I mean the singing group, itself, had great fun singing a song like “Joy to the World.” Then, it only took a look around to see that even those to whom the songs were being sung had joined in and were having just as much fun. And hardly anyone needed the words.

I read, recently, that one of the great purposes or truths of Christmas was for the praising of God. There is no greater way to praise God than through singing and I guess God knew what He was doing when He inspired all of these great songs. Even “Jingle Bells!”