“…and joy to last throughout the coming year.”
A memory: It’s Christmas morning, and Dad puts on the “John Denver and the Muppets Christmas” LP. The album crackles with warmth. I see the brown living room rug, the different-shade-of-brown sofa, the fake tree. Mom wears a maroon robe and sips coffee. Dad buzzes around with a video camera. My kid brother opens a He-Man figure. My sister interrogates Santa’s handwriting. During “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” Miss Piggy gets miffed when she thinks Scooter says “piggy pudding,” and we all giggle.
In my memories I associate this album with Christmas morning, but I now start listening to it when Christmas tunes start showing up on the radio. Advent is a stressful time for me. The Muppets help.
The first song on the album is “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” and Miss Piggy tries to steal the scene by singing “five gold rings” with greater oomph each time around. Beaker sings about nine ladies dancing by saying “mi mi mi mi mi mi.” It’s all barely controlled chaos. The album makes me smile. The Muppets always make me smile.
And now, the Muppets make my own kids smile. They ask to listen to this album every year. The Muppets get us laughing together, even when things are stressful. And this joy-in-the-face-of-tough-stuff is at the core of Christmas for me. Things can get very dark, and the waiting — the uncertainty — can be very difficult. But it’s never all dark. There is always light (and laughter) somewhere. A little child was born, and we’re still talking about his light. It’s all so unlikely.
Jim Henson set forth a whole bunch of unlikely light through the characters he made, too, didn’t he? He’s no longer with us, but his light is.
I cannot really recommend one song over another on this album because it’s the whole thing together that is in my memory bank and in my heart. Like any album you grew up with, the order of the songs and the anticipation of the next song is part of the memory — ensemble-mayhem followed by a quiet prayer for a tree followed by Rowlf at the piano followed by the origin story of “Silent Night.”
I’ll leave you with a prayer from “The Christmas Wish,” a song sung by Kermit/Jim Henson that has all of the clarity and loving tenderness you know from “Rainbow Connection.” I wish this for you and for us all:
For the truth that binds us all together,
I would like to say a simple prayer:
That at this special time,
you will have true peace of mind
and joy to last throughout the coming year.
