Let Him In!

Last spring, I had an amazing experience creating a series of videos showcasing one of my all-time favorite Easter-themed musical works, Rob Gardner's Lamb of God. Recently watching these as a part of my Christmas seasonal celebration, I felt inspired to do something similar with another musical favorite, this one Christmas-themed.

Just like last spring, when I shared one Lamb of God video each day in the week leading up to Easter Sunday, I thought I'd again share one of these videos each day in this last week before Christmas day.

Michael McLean's forgotten carols have been a Christmas tradition in our family for years. These beautiful carols are not about kindly gift-giving saints, animals indigenous to the north, wintry weather, or even those individuals whose experiences with the infant Christ child or even the adult Messiah are well known and often on our lips. Rather, these carols revolve around some individuals who we often forget to think about and whose experiences with Christ don't get a lot of thought but whose experiences are rich with meaning for us if we give them our attention.

Whether or not Mary and Joseph were turned away from a single inn, multiple inns, or no inns at all, and whether Mary delivered her infant babe in a barn, a courtyard feeding area, or a hillside cave, I find the the stirring message of this likely fictional character in the Nativity story compelling and inspiring and one that makes me want to open up the door to my humble home to invite in my Savior this Christmas season as we celebrate His wondrous birth and life and as we strive to be a little more generous and inviting and willing to open our doors to family, friends and strangers alike.

May your homes be warm, laden with bounteous blessings from our Father in Heaven, and filled with the spirit of love, peace, and joy during this holiday season and throughout the year.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

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I am a man forgotten, no one recalls my name.

Thousands of years will fail to fully erase my shame.

But I turned a profit nicely the day that I turned the couple away...

I turned them away...

I didn't sleep that evening, though I'd sold out my place.

Somehow I felt uneasy, something about her face.

Why did I wish that I'd let them stay?

I don't think they could have paid... Or could they have paid?

Restless, I left my bedroom. I walked the streets all night.

Lost in the world I lived in, found by a heavenly light.

Staring at one bright star in the sky, I heard a baby cry.

And I knew where that cry had come from,

cause I'd told them where they could go.

But I didn't think I could face them, and so I walked slowly home.

Missing my chance to share in their joy, I never saw the boy.

He never would condemn me. I did that all on my own.

He offered His forgiveness; and ever since then, I've known

He lets us choose each hour of each day

If we'll let Him in to stay.

Let Him in! Let Him in!

Let the peace on earth begin!

Let Him in! Let Him in!

Let the hope and joy begin.

And whether it be in your world today,

Or a crowded Bethlehem Inn,

Find a way! Make Him room! Let Him In!