Wonderful song. I think Faith Hill sings the most recent version I hear on 103.7, the "Christmas" channel on the radio. I hear it a lot and it is a lovely narrative ballad about a single, young, teenage mother who gets pregnant. Society is against her. Her fiance is aghast. And, she is terrified. But as the ballad goes, once the baby comes . . . life and her world is changed forever, to the good. Babies in their innocence and complete and total dependence on us, do that. They change life, forever. Babies, once they come, help us know a glimpse of the power of unconditional love, so strong we as their parents, and those who love them, would die for them. No questions asked. Of course, the song is about Mary and Joseph, and Jesus. This little child, born so long ago into such humble and difficult circumstances, not only changed the lives of his reluctant parents, he changed the lives of all in the world who claim him as their own. Our prayer this season when we recall his birth is that we remember our lives have been changed by him -- and remain so forever by the unconditional love of God, who sent him. This God, our God, known in and through that tiny baby who grew to be a man who loved so much, he died that we may know life, and freedom from sin and death. A blessed Christmas season for all, with prayers that the coming year will be the year when that baby "changed everything" for you.
a.
