Christmas songs and faith

It feels disrespectful, when I acknowledge all sorts of trivia here, not to acknowledge the loss that occurred in Connecticut last Friday.

I thought about it when my kids came home from school Friday, safely.

I thought about it when I hugged them tight.

I thought about it when I read words others had written, people all over the country, shocked and devastated to some degree or another.

I thought about it on Saturday at our ward Christmas party at church.  I tied shepherd head-dresses on the little primary children I love for the nativity play and I marveled and was grateful for their safety, their presence.

This morning when I was picking up seminary kids, I turned the radio away from the news because I can't take it anymore.  On the station I turned to, a singer from the 40s was crooning a Christmas song.

I considered all of the things Christmas songs have seen us through.

Christmas songs have been the backdrop through wars, disasters and heartbreaks public and private.  The Christmas songs come around every year like a boomerang, promising peace on earth and reminding us of the good news of Christ's birth.  They prompt us to recall memories of happy Christmases in the past, they reassure us that better days will come.

I have felt warm assurance when I've read words that are true.  I know, despite the horrors and tragedies that sometimes happen, we have a loving Heavenly Father.  I read what an LDS stake president, close to one of the victims families said, "It's tragic.  But as far as that tragedy reaches, our faith reaches further."

I hope that those affected by this great loss can partake of that love and faith.  It is there for the taking.

For that I'm grateful.