The Brrum Brrum Song

It’s that time of year again. The time of strings of multi-colored lights hanging from just about anything from which a guy can hang them. The time of chubby fellas in red suits with white beards; some real, some not so real. The time of endless Christmas TV shows, movies, and musical specials. A time that only comes once per year…thank goodness!

Don’t get me wrong. I truly enjoy the season. I like all of those things.

For some reason, there was a time when I didn’t really enjoy the holidays. When my wife and I first got married, I was a real Scrooge; grumpy and disinterested. That has pretty well changed now, and my wife greatly appreciates that fact.

My favorite things at Christmas are the movies “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story,” the food, the extra time spent with family and close friends, the food, the way that people take time to give, the food, and the Christmas songs. Did I mention the food?

I really like the songs. I like to sing them (those around me may not like that so much), and I like to listen to them on the radio….with one major exception. I detest that Wham/George Michael song “Last Christmas.”

“Last Christmas, I gave her my heart. The very next day she gave it away.” Blah, blah, blah. Over and over again. I’d rather go have my teeth cleaned than listen to that song.

I learned this week that my daughter has her own name for one of my favorite songs. She calls it the “Brrum Brrum Song.” Most of us know it as “The Little Drummer Boy.” I don’t care much for the Rankin/Bass clay-mation TV special, but I really like the song written by Katherine K. Davis. It gets me everytime, and tugs my emotional heart strings.

Why? Oh, okay. I’ll tell you….if you insist.

It’s all in the last few lines. The little boy comes before the newly born Jesus. All those around him have expensive gifts; gold, spices, etc. He apparently has nothing.

“I have no gift to bring, pa rum pum pum pum.”

Nothing, that is, but his drum.

“Shall I play for you, pa rum pum pum pum? On my drum?”

That’s all he had to give. Just a simple talent. But, the unwritten thing is what makes it really resonate with me. It wasn’t just that he played the drum. It was that he had a HEART that WANTED to GIVE.

Again, it wasn’t just that he had a drum that he was willing to play.

He was playing with more than his drum. He was playing with his heart. He gave Jesus what he had…with his heart.

“I played my best for Him, pa rum pum pum pum.”

He didn’t just give him a little tune. He gave his best.  He gave his heart.

“Then, He smiled at me, pa rum pum pum pum. Me and my drum.”

Isn’t that what we all really want? Let’s just cut it all down to the simple things. Don’t we really just want Jesus to smile at us?

Then, go ahead. You can do it….

Pick up your drum and play with all your heart.