Text Me Merry Christmas!

This weekend I experienced a burst of the Christmas Spirit at the Straight No Chaser concert.  If you’ve never heard this eclectic clan of voice geniuses, I recommend scrolling through Youtube and finding some of their fun classics, creative mashups, and unique singles.  They put on quite a show of wit, humor, and carols, but one particular Christmas song stuck out to me.  At first, it simply made me giggle, but reflecting today on the lyrics, I recognized the hidden bitter truth.

Text Me Merry Christmas, featuring Kristen Bell contains some great imagery of our addiction and connection to cell phones: an ode to how things have changed in the past few years.

“Remember this December to fully charge your phone.  And text me Merry Christmas.  Let me know you care.  Just a word or two.  One smiley face will do.”

“A Facebook message isn’t quite as sweet.  A need more than @you than just a tweet.  A snap on snapshot doesn’t lat.  And voicemail?  That’s from Christmas past.  Text me Merry Christmas.”.

While the song is comical, it reminded me a few weeks ago when I was complaining about creating and sending Christmas cards.  I attempted to convince my mom that no one reads cards and it’s a waste of time and money.  But there is something special about receiving mail, rather than a mass text message of “Merry Christmas.” Technology has caused wonderful changes in the past few years, but are we missing out on a big piece of the Holiday season?

This year, let’s do more than text Merry Christmas.  Pick up the phone, write a letter, bake some cookies, and share in the joys of Christmas with personal relationships!