In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a TV show on The Learning Channel called “A Baby Story.” This 30 minute documentary-style show (I use that term loosely) would feature a family preparing to welcome a new baby. Each episode included interviews with parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. Usually there was a visit to the doctor for a pre-natal visit. And then there was some little extra feature to highlight the preparations or celebrations that might be taking place, before the final (significantly edited) footage of the birth.
When watching this show religiously (which I did), one of my favorite features was when the soon-to-be parent would walk the audience through the packing of their hospital bag. It feels a little silly now, but I loved watching what people chose for comfort, what they threw in to keep themselves occupied just in case they had time, what they wanted to listen to while laboring, what they carried along for religious devotion, or what clothes they wanted the baby to wear when they were coming home.
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Some date it back to the 15th century, but others claim it’s from the 18th. The roots of the story in the carol are actually more ancient than any of this, though, coming from the first few centuries of the church’s existence, from a gospel account that is not contained in our Scriptures. In the carol Mary and Joseph are traveling to Bethlehem where she will eventually deliver her child. Along the way the expectant mother Mary is hungry and asks Joseph to stop and get her a cherry from an orchard they are passing, for the baby. Joseph snaps back bitterly, telling her to let the child’s father get him a cherry to eat. 
The Song of Zechariah found in Luke 1:68-79, are some of the first words the priest uttered upon the birth of his son, John, the cousin of Jesus, the one we know as John the Baptist. Zechariah had been made mute by the angel Gabriel at the start of his wife’s pregnancy because of his fear and disbelief, but when the child was born and Zechariah and Elizabeth named him John as Gabriel had instructed them, his tongue was freed and filled with Holy Spirit John’s father, Zechariah, spoke this prophecy. Listen now for the words he proclaimed.
For Some Reason 