Sing a Song of Christmas
12/23
May the blessings of Christmas abound for you as we prepare for this Holy Night!
One of the things I love best about Christmas is the singing of the beautiful hymns and carols through which we all proclaim the story of Emmanuel — God with us in the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem.
I love singing, period. However, I confess that I have close to zero confidence that I do it well. My vocal range is second soprano and what I really love is singing alto. I find amazing joy in singing harmony and yet I don’t read music very well. Since the Glee Club in high school, through to singing for years in my church choir, I have relied upon strong musicians among the altos to carry me along.
Because of my love for the inner voice, more than the melody, modern praise songs often leave me flat. Instead of singing through harmonies, praise songs are usually sung in unison or, if there is harmony, we need to know it by heart and without the notes. Usually, there is no music, just words.
The Advent season brings blessed relief for me. I have sung these carols for so long that I can actually sing the alto harmony line on the best known like “O, Come All Ye Faithful” or “Joy to the World” without keeping my eyes fixed on the notes in the hymnbook.
As I ponder upon this, it makes sense to me that praise music has arisen in these past forty years or so during such strife in the church. Our difficulty in being together as a church has translated into difficulty singing together with our different voices. During such times, it makes sense that we would move toward singing in unison. Harmony is elusive for us.
Singing at Christmas brings healing and reconciliation to us all because, during Advent and Christmastide, at least, it is expected that the church will sing in harmony and we all enjoy our different parts.
Perhaps those in the church who sometimes desperately want us to sing in unison can accept harmony at Christmas because there is confidence during these holy days that we are indeed singing the same song. We can delight in the parts we all play, however different, in the proclamation of Jesus as God incarnate, dwelling among us full of grace and truth.
So, then, my Christmas wish is that this willingness to join in the harmonies of our favorite carols would last throughout the church year. Can my Christmas present be our seeing that there is a way between unison and conflict — that is harmony?
I hope you sing along with your part in this beloved Christmas carol. Enjoy!
Peace,
Reverend Janet Edwards
11 Responses
The Lord Jesus Christ never disdained those made in God’s image as Homosexual – why do we not hear and see more about this Truth in our midst?
The War Widows
Dear Mary,
Thanks for you excellent question!
As I live with Scripture, Jesus seems to me to join the Old Testament prophets who reserve their distain for those who say one thing and do another. The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people I know are models for me of integrity, all having made a courageous effort to integrate who they are and what they do in the world. Especially LGBT Christians have a great deal to teach us about holding together all aspects of ourselves before God. These are the kind of people Jesus seemed to enjoy most.
What is your answer to your question?
Peace be with you, Janet
As an alto, I love singing in harmony and hearing the tenor and bass lines behind me. We had neighbors in for caroling last night (Dec 23) and it was a special time
Dear Jean,
Thanks for adding your voice here, Jean!!
You remind me of another special aspect of the Christmas season: there is a greater readiness to gather in groups and sing together. There was a time when this was very commonplace at home and in church. I can’t think of anyone who does this now except, perhaps, like you, at Christmastime.
One practical thing we might do to foster unity in the church is to introduce more opportunities for singing together. What do you think?
Peace and joy be with you, Janet
That is wonderful news, Janet. We were trniyg to figure out what to do for Christmas dinner. This is one less thing that I will have to worry about. I will keep an eye out for any new information, such as times of placing, and so on. Thank you,Cydney
It’s ok Cheoah. We all know that sometimes we just don’t feel like looking into that thing our hu-mom holds in her hand either. Or having to keep smiling either.
Huong dan giai de thi dai hoc mon Toan khoi A1 nam 2012, Huong dan giai de thi dai hoc, dap an de thi dai hoc mon Toan A1, Goi y mon Toan A1, Toan A1, dAP AN TOAN a1 2012
पुरानी यादों को समेटना आसान है पर उन पलों को फिर से जीना मुश्किल …सुंदर कविता !
The core of your writing while sounding agreeable originally, did not work perfectly with me personally after some time. Somewhere throughout the paragraphs you were able to make me a believer unfortunately only for a short while. I nevertheless have a problem with your leaps in assumptions and one would do nicely to fill in all those breaks. If you actually can accomplish that, I will definitely end up being amazed.
A friend saw your Indy art and passed around your blog link at work. Really great stuff. I particularly like the set of cards concentrating on everyone’s mug. I’d love to be young again and open a pack of cards and get the rare “face melter” card. 🙂 Fantastic characterization.
Okay I’m convinced. Let’s put it to action.