Halloween is officially over, and you know what that means: it’s time to turn on the Christmas music.

Grocery stores are now adorned with snowmen and Santa Claus, with candy canes and Christmas lights — the commercial world is ready to turn straight to celebrating Christmas.

Should Christians in turn celebrate the holiday so early by playing Christmas music? 

With the qualification that it is secular Christmas music, yes. 

A distinction should be made between the holiday season and Christmas. Christmas is the Christian holiday. The holiday season is the secular celebration based on Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Both holidays bring joy to an otherwise dreary world and both are worthy of celebration — in their own separate ways. 

“White Christmas” and “Silver Bells” do not really evoke Christ’s birth but rather the holiday season. Celebrating this is a different good that should be treated separately from the (obviously) higher good of Christmas.

When Christmas Day comes, we get to celebrate with music with much richer and deeper meaning. Then we play music like “O Holy Night” or “Joy to the World,” which pointedly rejoice in Christ’s birth.

The trees are bare, and the rain is here; snow is not here yet, but it is soon to come. Brightening this dreary November with some secular Christmas music is the least we can do.