I love to watch my soon-to-be six-year-old son, Caleb, dance around with his iPod in hand, ear buds hanging loosely from his tiny ears.  The volume is usually too loud, so he shouts more than he sings his favorite tunes–an eclectic mix of Beatles, Jack Johnson, and random kid tunes for the Kindergarten and under set.

Christmas tunes have recently become very popular at our house.  Although Christmas is acknowledged in Bahrain, it’s not a Muslim holiday so we don’t have the outward “cues” that signal the season:  no carolers, twinkling lights, and certainly no snow.  We do see the occasional Christmas tree, but it’s not the “jingle bells” that we’re accustomed to in the West.  The music helps us to connect to the season.

The day before yesterday, Caleb was bopping around to Michael Buble’s rendition of “Holly Jolly Christmas” while the rest of us decorated our small (and rather pathetic looking) Christmas tree.  It was 70 degrees F outside, but we sipped our hot chocolate and donned cozy wool sweaters anyway.  Ok so maybe the sweaters were a stretch, but they sure looked good in the annual family Christmas photo.  I was determined–much to the chagrin of my family–to get in the Christmas spirit.

I thought Caleb paused his iPod to gaze in wonder at the Christmas scene we’d just created in our living room, but really it was to tell me that I’d accidentally included “All You Need is Love” on the Christmas playlist.  He didn’t seem to mind too much and continued to sing along as he checked out the ornaments adorning our meager little tree.  ”Love, love, love…all you need is love…”

After the decorating was complete, it was on to the baking.  Corinne, our nine-year-old daughter, took charge in this department while her older brother and father rather stealthily escaped the kitchen.  Caleb was tasked with measuring the oatmeal for our first batch of  no-bake cookies.  I was in charge of the stove top.  Together, the three of us sang along to Frank Sinatra’s Christmas Collection until the playlist was once again interrupted by another non-Christmas tune.

This time it was a Gregorian chant that I’d downloaded months earlier when I was on a strict meditation kick.  Caleb thought this was hilarious and turned to me to say, “Mom, why did you put a Bahrain song on the Christmas list?”  Bahrain song?  I needed clarification.  ”What do you mean by ‘Bahrain song,’  Caleb?”  ”You know, the prayer song!” he said as if he couldn’t imagine that this wasn’t obvious to me.

I couldn’t deny the similarity even though I laughed under my breath.  Muslims worship in mosques and instead of steeples with bells like churches have, mosques have minarets with loud speakers from which a “call to prayer” or adhan is played five times a day.   The adhan is in Arabic, so we rarely understand much else than “Allah” (God), but it it’s a rather low, monotone sound kind of like a chant.  It was an easy mistake to make.

We moved on, skipping the Gregorian chant in favor of James Taylor’s “Go Tell It On the Mountain” (a personal favorite).  From no-bakes to cut-outs, we were on a roll and soon our home smelled as good as it looked.  Yes, Christmas had arrived in flat no. 26 and feeling satisfied with this observation, I let my rosy-cheeked, perspiring family change out of their sweaters.

A few days later, after our Friday morning worship service, we were walking to where our car was parked in a narrow alley behind our church.  The sun was shining, the air was crisp and the alley was full of a variety of people–some walking, a few on bicycles–going about the business of life.  The world seemed peaceful and friendly even for just a moment.  There weren’t any Christmas decorations in sight, but I was overwhelmed by the spirit of Christmas anyway.

As the mosques in earshot began to play the adhan in cacophonous unison, I thought about Caleb’s “Bahrain song” comment.  It made me smile, but it was the other non-Christmas tune on his playlist that made me realize that I don’t need decorations, yummy sweets, or woolen sweaters to get in the Christmas spirit.  All I need is love and it was all around.