Christmas Music

By -
I’m listening to Christmas music on Pandora today.  Just seems like a good thing to do on a quiet slow Christmas day.  Our festivities were last night.  We had a wonderful time.  The day ended with making potato candy with my youngest daughter.  She is off with friends today and wanted a treat to take with her.  It was fun.


Christmas music really sets a mood, doesn’t it.  I love Silver Bells because it reminds me of Christmas in New York City.  I sure hope I get to see the tree at Rockerfeller Center at least one more time.  I used to love to go see it with my dad.  I’ve even been there when it was lit.  What joy, what excitement!  After that, a trip across the street to the magnificent St. Patrick’s Cathedral to see the crèche, followed by some steaming hot chocolate made the day complete. 



Our first Christmas in Tennessee I was so homesick for New York and the East coast one of our daughters gave me some silver bells.  They still hang on our back door.  She told me when you see these bells think of Christmas in New York-I do.  However, now I miss her when I look at them. 

But Silver Bells is not my favorite Christmas song.  When I’m asked, as one is this time of the year, what is your favorite Christmas Carol, I hesitate.  My favorite is one that almost no one knows.  I usually answer that my favorite “popular” Christmas Carol is Joy to the World.  My favorite verse is the last one:

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.

I love the harmony of this Carol.  It just gives me the Joy that it declares. 

So what is my favorite?  One of my best Christmas presents was a record player.  I guess then it was like getting an mp3 player.  I also got some 45’s to play on it.  On one of these 45’s was an obscure ancient Carol, Good King Wenceslaus.   

The tune is wonderful and can be done fast or slow.  I like it both ways.  The tune is even more ancient that the song dating back to the 13th Century.  But the words – the words tell a wonderful story.  The Saint, King Wenceslaus went out in the snow of December 26 (the feast of St. Stephen).  He saw a poor man gathering sticks in the snow.  Moved to compassion the king orders his servant to help him feed this poor man.  He wants to “dine” with the man.  The servant grows tired in the cold.  He is told by the saint to step in the saints footsteps.  The warmth of the footsteps revives the servant and we are told that we are to bless the poor.

I am pondering this message today.  I am thinking about the homeless and those alone.  I am thinking about the poor with children who wanted to give their children so much more this Christmas.  I am thinking about God sending the greatest gift to earth, His son. 



Following in the footsteps of Jesus means we go to the poor, it means we go to the outcast, the foreigner, the stranger.  Who can you still bless this Christmas and throughout the year?

Comments

Post a Comment

Please keep comments appropriate

Popular posts from this blog

Suddenly

By -
Image
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest…Luke 2:13-14a It was October of 2021. The sky was clear and the sun was shining. I was in Florida, walking on the beach. I could hear the waves break and the birds were everywhere. I don’t know what it is about the birds at the beach – they are beautiful and also annoying. They are aggressive and yet graceful. I was really enjoying the solitude of a walk alone on the beach – the beach is my most happiest place. I used to work in the mental health field and at times would do guided relaxation. While I have some discomfort with this idea, it was required of the job. It starts out with go to the place (in your mind) that you feel most relaxed and peaceful. Immediately I go to the beach. There have been times of anxiety in the dentist chair that I also use this technique and go to the beach in my mind. My phone rang disturbing my peace. It was my eldest son. He
Read more

I'm in the Lord's Army!

By -
Image
So much for the idea of writing about camp for a few days J … busy and stuck get in the way.  I’ve had lots of inspiration this week about other things too… but they sat, because I was going to write about camp.  Oh well, the week is nearly over.  Don’t you love the fact that every day is a do-over from the day before?  As much as I’d like to share my thoughts about some other things, or spout off about my latest insult or discovery, I think on this quiet Saturday morning, I will write about Camp Ashford Hills.  I remembered a lot about this camp experience.  I was a Sunbeam and Captain Johnson arranged for me to go to camp.  I remember I rode in a van.  Any trip that involved my sitting in a vehicle was a big deal.  We didn’t have a car.  We were quintessential NY’ers.  We took public transportation everywhere.  It was too much expense or hassle to own a car and have to move it for street cleaning, not to mention digging it out of the snow during the winter.  I remember t
Read more

Malla Moe, Tante Ruth, and Saturday Chores

By -
Image
Saturday morning after cereal out of a box while watching Popeye, Dudley Do-Right, Yogi, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Bugs Bunny, I’d go to the kitchen.   Under the sink were the dust clothes to be used for my weekly chore of dusting.   I must have been in the First Grade at PS94 when my mother and father told me it was time to work.   I was part of the family and my contribution was necessary.   No more free handouts of money for candy.   I had to earn my money. Every week I would move the white elephant planter, the amber vase, the candy dish with candy for company only, and the furniture scarves to complete my job of dusting.   For my labor, I received 50 ¢ .   Candy bars were only 5 ¢, for that same 5 ¢ I could get three long pretzel rods or a candy necklace, some wax lips or even a box of candy cigarettes.   If I chose the latter I’d have to consume them all before I got home.   Sugary candy cigarettes were forbidden.  I might end up smoking. I still have that white elephant plante
Read more