In 2001, the Richards family of Canberra, Australia, set the Guinness World Record for the most holiday lights ever to grace a human house—331,038 bulbs, to be exact. The family's retina-scorching record stood for more than a decade. Then, in 2012, Tim Gay and his family from LaGrangeville, New York—bested the Richardses. They decorated their house with 346,283 lights. (Many of those were, to add tinsel to injury, synchronized to music.)

The Richards couldn't stand to be losers so they upped the ante by decorating their house with more than 502,165 lights. (This equates to more than 29 miles of wire.)

But! There is, of course, always room for more light. So, this year, our heroes from New York got their revenge: They covered their own house—and, crucially, its grounds—with a display that involves 601,736 lights. The whole thing took roughly two months to build. It spans two acres. It also involves much more than lights: It includes more than 200 songs, including both top-40 hits and traditional holiday songs.

As Tim Gay told Guinness, on the occasion of his win: "My family and I are thrilled to bring the World Record back to the United States." He added, "And we're even more excited that we did it with nearly 100,000 more lights than the previous record."

Possible Preaching Angles: Do you think somewhere these two families lost the original meaning of Christ's birth? Although this true story borders on the ridiculous, isn't it true that we can easily miss the meaning of Christmas with our own mad frenzy of bigger and better?