“It’s Christmas time…”, only it’s not 2015, but 1984.  I was 13 years old and was becoming socially aware of tragedy and suffering.  While I grew up low-middle class, my mother often working two jobs and my dad maintained blue-collar employment with only an eighth-grade education, we weren’t well off.

I immediately fell in love with “Do They Know It’s Christmas” by British rockers, Band-Aid.  My mother had to go to three stores, before she found one who was actually submitting part of the purchase price toward the fundraiser.

I was a new teenager.  With that came musician-worship and infatuation. Singers and groups like Duran Duran (yup I was a “Duranie” back then), Culture Club, George Michael, Sting, Bono (deep sigh of approval), just to name a few.

As the years passed, this song remained special to me.  It wasn’t Christmas until you heard it played it on the radio.  My sister and I would always tell people that.  Heck, we’d remind ourselves of it as soon as one of us would hear it.

The Ghost of Christmas Present brings us back to the current year.  I’ve always wanted to time-travel that way.  Why should Scrooge be the only one?

While I personally LOVE and prefer Christmas hymns, there are a few contemporary songs that have captured my heart.  I’m happy to announce, it’s been played on the radio.  I smiled and “told” my sister that it was officially Christmas time now.

While the song has apparently been redone over the years to support other causes, there is only one original and only one that holds significance to me.

While many people have forgotten the starving children of Africa while they swarm the malls, take to the internet and stop off at little shops in search of the perfect gift, remember simplicity.

Try to positively impact someone.  Compliments, smiles, holding open a door, picking up something that’s fallen, asking if help is needed, offer a ride, donate to a food pantry, etc..  You don’t have to “feed the world” to share the Christmas spirit.