Why is it that at the busiest time of year choir directors and congregations expect ten times more singing than any other month? For us choristers, it means that on top of shopping and card writing and wrapping, there are extra rehearsals and services. I tell myself this is pleasurable. The music is beautiful, and the people who hear it will be inspired, calmed, transported. But there’s a point in the rehearsals when I grumble, “Never again.”

I was close to that point recently when our choir director said in exasperation after we sang the same thing for about the tenth time, “Softer. More intense. Make it really musical.” We went over the passage again, and from the look on his face, we weren’t any better. That’s when Willis, a soft-spoken tenor, raised his hand and said, “I always remember something my music professor once said to me: ‘Don’t wake the baby.’ ”

We laughed. After all, Willis’ wife was due to have a baby any moment. The image seemed just right. It helped us nail that passage of music. And it gave me what I was looking for as I went through the rest of the holiday season. The Baby. It’s all about the Baby!

Lord, You came to the world as a child so that we might greet You with childlike wonder.