Happy holidays, Bermuda! Yes, it's the Christmas season already. As I started typing this, at 5 a.m. on Wednesday of this week (that's right; I'm old school like my father and grandfather who always got up early) it dawned on me that the word Christmas originated as a compound meaning "Christ's mass" celebrating the birth of Jesus. The word is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and is a phrase first recorded in 1038. While contemplating the derivation of the word, I took it as meaning we need to put more of Christ back into Christmas.

More on this after The Top 20.

Up to number one is Whatever You Like by T.I.

Up to number two is the new hit from Ne-Yo, entitled Closer.

Up to number three is Mrs. Officer by my namesake Lil Wayne featuring Bobby Valentino and Kidd Kidd, one of the hottest songs around and a former essential new tune.

Improving to number four is Miss Independent by Ne-Yo, a love song atop a creatively produced but slowed down hip-hop beat. Ne-Yo is one of the most talented songwriters around these days. He writes some amazing songs but the beat of this one is what makes it a DJLT fave. I like beats produced by producers like the Neptunes, Dark Child and other similarly creative producers.

Falling to number five is current dance anthem Disturbia by hot girl Rihanna, still a hot track and still making people sing and dance. I'm even still singing the words, "Bum, bum, be dum, bum, bum ba de dum" out of the blue from time to time.

Up to number six is Jennifer Hudson's monster new hip-hop track, Pocket Book, a duet with Ludacris, which is just a banging track.

Improving to number seven is the monster new track by John Legend and Andre 3000, entitled Green Light. This is just a beautiful song and John Legend's entire CD is hot.

Climbing to number eight is Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) by Beyonce.

On the way down are two hot tracks which have had a good run in the charts.

Slipping to number nine is She's Royal by Taurus Riley.

Spotlight, by former American Idol songstress Jennifer Hudson tumbles to number ten.

Up to number 11 is Live Your Life by T.I. featuring hot girl and Bajan Bombshell Rihanna.

Soaring to number 12 is Dangerous by Kardinal Official, from Canada, featuring Akon.

Up to number 13 is the new one from Jazmine Sullivan entitled Bust Your Windows. I like Jazmine Sullivan's style - the sister can sing and in this track you can hear the pain of a broken heart when a relationship goes wrong. People need to understand that you can not just play with other peoples' feelings and take them lightly.

At this juncture, I have to make a point. Years ago it used to be that men were dogs but I can tell you that nowadays women are just as bad and in some cases worse than the men. Perhaps women have taken a page from the books of the men in their lives but the end result is that many women today are even more promiscuous than the men.

A large number of men today, especially those between the ages of 30 and 50, have heard the cries of women for decades and now are actually decent guys who are working hard and providing for their families; less inclined to be players.

The tables have turned and many of these hard-working family men are finding themselves left out in the cold or discovering that their women are out and about or around town whilst the dudes are working their butts off to provide for their families! Times change but I will pray for all of us.

Moving on up to number 14 is Don't Call Me Baby by Kreesha Turner, which is tearing up the dance music charts.

Falling to number 15 is The Business by Yung Berg featuring Casha, a current hip-hop fave.

Climbing to number 16 is Right Here by Brandy.

Moving on up to number 17 is Don't call me baby by Kresha Turner.

Last week's essential new hit, Get Up by gospel sister duo Mary Mary, advances to number 18.

Down to number 19 is Can't Believe It by T-Pain and Lil Wayne.

Now this week's essential new hit.

In at number 20 it's the sexiest group of ladies around, the Pussycat Dolls, with I Hate This Part.

Now back to this week's words: More Christ. I wish to encourage all of us to put Christ back into Christmas.

The way we have all conducted ourselves over the past 20 - 30 years is ridiculous and unfortunate. But the way we have behaved during he past ten is criminal and cause for punishment.

Let me explain. We have taken a holiday where we were supposed to celebrate the life of the son of God and made it into a time when we spend all our money on gifts, toys, wasteful excesses of food, liquor and all manner of other things that are not the way of God.

Christmas, like everything, can be open to interpretation, but some interpretations are wrong. The correct interpretation of what Christmas is supposed to be about is that we are supposed to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ, celebrate it, give thanks for it and try to be more like Him. Well, most of us don't exactly do this.

Instead, we think that we are supposed to max out our credit cards and spend everything we have on the aforementioned expenditures yet we cringe at the thought of giving more to our church, of paying tithes and of giving donations to charities and those less fortunate than ourselves.

I have not yet succeeded but I am trying to encourage my family to instead of just buying gifts for each other, try to give the gift of one's time and talents. In other words, instead of just buying a niece, nephew or Godchild a gift, why not try spending more time with them.

I can tell you that older persons in your family will appreciate this more. Sure, its nice to take them a little gift but what they really need and want is to have people visit them, spend a little time, visit more often and just be around them in the midnight of their lives.

It's nice to have Christmas dinners and family events and these things also cost money, lots of money in Bermuda! I find that parties and food are good for bringing families together. You get to see cousins and relatives who you haven't seen in ages. Or you get to meet relatives you didn't know existed!

So, do yourselves a favour and save yourselves a few dollars by getting simple gifts where necessary and by having the gift of your time and talent be the biggest gift you give this year.

There are many ways you can do this. One example is that if you know of a family member who has work to do on their home, you can offer to help, especially if you are handy.

Another way to give an awesome gift for Christmas is to spend a morning or afternoon with someone you love or care for doing something that they like to do, whether you, too, enjoy that activity or not. One more opportunity for excellent gift-giving is to take a senior citizen for a drive (if they can tolerate or manage getting into a car) and spending a little time with them. A few final examples of giving the gift of your time and talent is offering to run errands for someone, doing things for them that they cannot do for themselves and helping to organise and/or prepare food for those aforementioned family parties, which usually bring families together.

So, my people, happy holidays and lets put Christ back into Christmas. Peace...