There’s a song in the air. Have you heard it?
And—NO—I’m not talking about “All I Want for Christmas is You.”
I’m actually not talking about any particular Christmas song that has been published or recorded (though I love so many of them).
I’m talking about—let me see if I can explain this—THE SONG of Christmas.
It’s a big picture—a message of hope and encouragement shared creatively and artistically from the heart of the artist, poet, composer.
It encompasses the Christmas story from the Scriptures as well as the way the Story has captivated artists throughout history.
It can’t be contained in a single songbook, or even in all the volumes ever written. It’s too high and wide and deep; the combination of words and notes is too infinite.
That’s why songwriters keep writing more songs as their individual and unique expressions—within their own times and contexts—of THE SONG.
Yes, the infinite and uncontainable is hard to grasp or explain.
Let me give a specific example inspired by Janet Denison’s wonderful Advent Devotional, “ The Songs Tell the Story .”
During the Cuban Missile Crisis, French WW2 veteran, Noel Rigney, was walking the streets of Manhattan absorbed in the sense of fear and uncertainty that many Americans experienced during those 13 days in October 1962. Almost every face he saw showed the anxiety.
He noticed two mothers walking their babies in strollers. What he really noticed was the babies laughing, smiling, and playing—oblivious to the things that grownups fear. Watching them, he realized that he was smiling, too.
By the time he got home, the words to a song had formed in his mind. He wrote them down and his wife, Gloria, composed the tune.
Said the night wind to the little lamb
“Do you see what I see?
Way up in the sky, little lamb
Do you see what I see?
A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite”
.
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy
“Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy
Do you hear what I hear?
A song, a song high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea”
.
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king
“Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm, mighty king
Do you know what I know?
A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring him silver and gold
Let us bring him silver and gold”
.
Said the king to the people everywhere
“Listen to what I say!
Pray for peace, people, everywhere
Listen to what I say!
The Child, the Child sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light”
.
Bing Crosby’s 1963 recording of “ Do You Hear What I Hear ” gave the song worldwide acclaim.
Here’s my point today: THE SONG of Christmas is expressed in various ways through words and tunes we can hear with our ears.
But, if we are “hearing” with our hearts the hopeful, life-giving message of Christmas, we might be able to help our distracted neighbors today hear the same hope.
Be amazing this Christmas, my friend.
Postscript from the Discover Your Amazing team
Here are a few further items that came to mind during the composition of today’s post.
“ The Singer “ performed by David Phelps on his album, “One Wintry Night.”
“ Don Oiche ud i Mbeithil ” (an Irish Christmas song) performed by Celtic Woman on their album “A Christmas Celebration.”
LYRIC TRANSLATON‘
Twas of this night in Bethle’m, which under the sun’s ere heard,
‘Twas on that night in Bethle’m, God published the uncut/unabridged Word
The sky’s face glows excited, the earth in white is dressed
Love sleeps within a manger and drinks from a maiden’s breast
.
Out on the open hillside, no cover for shepherds’ fear
When, bright, the Heavens open and God’s messengers appear
“And now a hundred glories to the Father in Highest Heaven
On earth to men of goodwill now let there be Peace given”
