Ahem…..(Singing) On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…..
Hold it a minute! Christmas is over. Why am I singing? Well, technically Christmas may be over (although I would argue that we should hope for Christ every day of the year but that is another post).
The twelve days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas Day through January 6th. Did you know this? I did not until recently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve_Days_of_Christmas
What is Meaning of the Song?
The song’s meaning has a lot of controversy. I looked at Snopes. I can’t add the link, but the article says
“What we do know is that the twelve days of Christmas in the song are the twelve days between the birth of Christ (Christmas, December 25) and the coming of the Magi (Epiphany, January 6). Although the specific origins of the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas” are not known, it possibly began as a Twelfth Night “memory-and-forfeits” game in which the leader recited a verse, each of the players repeated the verse, the leader added another verse, and so on until one of the players made a mistake, with the player who erred having to pay a penalty, such as a offering up a kiss or a sweet.”
Snopes article on the 12 days of Christmas
The Gifts are Expensive
This article broke down the cost of each gift in the song.
The total cost for all twelve of the gifts mentioned in the song came to $170,298.03 in 2019. Because four of the live performances of humans cannot be gifted in 2020, the total comes to $105,561.80.
above link
Even if one could spend that on someone, what would they do with all of those animals running around?
Some Fun Versions of The Song
Here is a link to my favorite version of the song.
Here’s a version of the song by Straight No Chaser
Here’s a skit of the song by Performed by United Student Ministries at Crossroads Bible Church
Tired of the song yet?
Let’s continue to celebrate Christmas and await the Magi on January 6th.
