"It's coming on Christmas
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on"
Joni Mitchell
Often my theme song for Advent.
I'm not really sad, but at times a wee bit melancholy.
January marks the anniversary of the death of both my parents--many, many years ago now, but memories of quiet, illness-centered Decembers haunt me a bit.
Past sadness yields to present-moment joy.
I'm anticipating my daughter and grandson's arrival. The best Christmas present ever.
I am readying for pageant rehearsals and a glorious hour with a mess of kids tomorrow afternoon. We will sing our Christmas favorites, secular and sacred. Rudolph, with all the additional responses, is a must and Angels We Have Heard on High with the GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIAS makes me smile (WIDE and BIG) with every GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I guess this is a long way of saying I need to remind myself (often and everyday) of the great joy and privilege that is my job. AND, sometimes Christmas is a very real and true mix of many opposite emotions. And that, as my yoga teacher says all the time, "is all good!"
This post we'll just take a look at our Christmas Eve pre-service music. I'll post the Christmas Eve service in a day or so.
The prelude music this Christmas Eve, directed/arranged by the Rev. Jim Friedrich (if we are blessed with enough voices) will include Sherburne and Milford (from The Sacred Harp), and a few other carols that do not make the regular service playlist. Here are some inspiring arrangements/performances to ponder.
Milford just gives me the shivers! LOVE it, one of my favorites.
They're cutting down trees
They're putting up reindeer
And singing songs of joy and peace
Oh, I wish I had a river
I could skate away on"
Joni Mitchell
Often my theme song for Advent.
I'm not really sad, but at times a wee bit melancholy.
January marks the anniversary of the death of both my parents--many, many years ago now, but memories of quiet, illness-centered Decembers haunt me a bit.
Past sadness yields to present-moment joy.
I'm anticipating my daughter and grandson's arrival. The best Christmas present ever.
I am readying for pageant rehearsals and a glorious hour with a mess of kids tomorrow afternoon. We will sing our Christmas favorites, secular and sacred. Rudolph, with all the additional responses, is a must and Angels We Have Heard on High with the GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORIAS makes me smile (WIDE and BIG) with every GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
I guess this is a long way of saying I need to remind myself (often and everyday) of the great joy and privilege that is my job. AND, sometimes Christmas is a very real and true mix of many opposite emotions. And that, as my yoga teacher says all the time, "is all good!"
This post we'll just take a look at our Christmas Eve pre-service music. I'll post the Christmas Eve service in a day or so.
The prelude music this Christmas Eve, directed/arranged by the Rev. Jim Friedrich (if we are blessed with enough voices) will include Sherburne and Milford (from The Sacred Harp), and a few other carols that do not make the regular service playlist. Here are some inspiring arrangements/performances to ponder.
Milford just gives me the shivers! LOVE it, one of my favorites.
See Amid the Winter's Snow. Annie Lennox. Nuff said.
The Wexford Carol. Yo-Yo Ma and Alison Krauss. Beauty.
The Truth from Above. We have a concertina in our group, but an accordion would be, well, FABULOUS!
I can dream. :)
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