The 2013 'CMA Country Christmas' special was a mixed bag of upbeat, fun and festive holiday classics along with several heartfelt, sincere, hymn-like songs. Rascal Flatts performed twice and chose to be lighthearted for one track and more thoughtful with the other.

The trio returned to the stage for the penultimate song of the show -- they were also the second act to take the stage earlier in the night, delivering the decidedly more uptempo 'Jingle Bell Rock' -- turning in a beautiful ballad in the form of 'A Strange Way to Save the World.'

While it's easy to get sucked into the commercialism of Christmas, worrying about things like gifts and holiday parties, a song like this quickly reminds us that Christmas is a holy time for people of faith. It is also one of the most important events of the Christian calendar and the true spirit is about what you give, not what you receive.

The trio performed amid a backdrop of lighted trees, but it wasn't about what we saw. It was simply about what we heard.

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