The three ideas I most closely associate with Christmas Eve are Family, Singing, and Anticipation.
Family, because you’re hopefully with the people you love–blood family or adopted family.
Singing, because caroling in general and Silent Night in particular feel particularly connected to Christmas Eve.
Anticipation is overwhelming, especially for children, who can’t wait to see what Santa and their parents have wrapped up for them.
These, coincidentally, are three feelings I associate with the time before a concert. Any concert. A choir is like a family, and of course there is singing, and the anticipation of sharing music with an audience can be quite palpable.
Those three feelings, all connected, have been in short supply this year. I’m enjoying feeling them today, as usual, but wish I have connected them a few more times in 2020. And so I’m looking forward to a 2021 full of family, singing, and anticipation.