The Lost Carols

By the time I was ten years old I had memorized the words to a dozen or more Christmas carols--Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark the Herald, Joy to the World and many others. We heard them in malls and stores, and on TV and in the movies, and we sang them in schools. From Thanksgiving to New Years each year provided a tutorial on the birth of Christ in song and spoken word.

In this age where we nervously check our speech at each public portal for any outward signs of religious belief, those days have passed. Of course Christmas carols in schools are long gone--except perhaps those innocuous tales of Frosty, Rudolf and Jingle Bells. But the traditional religious carols have also disappeared from any public place, from most radio and television, and from all the nooks and crannies of our secular lives, with the exception of churches and religious stations.

As a result, young people don't know Christmas carols any more. I'm guessing you would find more children know the words to satirical versions of "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer" than to "Joy to the World." So families and carolers and other like-minded groups cannot spontaneously sing carols any more. And we have lost not only one of the great social bonds of a sacred holiday, but also a subtle but effective link of the Christmas season to its heritage as the celebration of the birth of Christ, the spirit of sacrifice, and the wonders of selfless love.

With every generation, as we ring out the old, the passing generation mourns the loss of traditional culture and the degeneration of societal values. And I suppose I am no different, and would rather rage against the dying of the light than go gently into that good night.