Christmas Day 2006

Wishing one and all, a Blessed Christmas.

5 Christmas Songs

Photocredit: wendyrosko

And another first for me. Daysgoby tagged me to do this. First time, that I’ve been tagged. How exciting.

5 Favourite Christmas Songs

1. O Little Town of Bethlehem (lyrics: Rector Phillips Brookes; music: Lewes Redner; 1867)
This hymn uses a lot of contrasts, such as “dark streets” contrasted with “everlasting light”, “mortal men sleep” while “angels keep watch”. But the one phrase that is very meaningful to me is “ the hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight.”
Christ’s coming has an eternal significance and it has to do with removing fear and giving hope for all mankind. For me, this is the spirit of Christmas.

2. O Holy Night (lyrics in French: Placide Cappeau; Translation: John Dwight; Music: Adolphe Adam; 1847)
“Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul it felt its worth
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.”

Again, a reminder of the big difference, Christ’s birth has made to those who believe. A historical footnote: some say that this was the very first melody played on radio.

3. Little Drummer Boy (Lyrics and music: Katherine K. Davis, Henry Onorati and Harry Simeone; 1958)
It was a hit for a number of artists including Bing Crosby. However, my attachment to this song is because it was the song that my late favorite uncle would always insist I sing at family gatherings at this time of the year. I would squeal it out and be rewarded by a pat on the head by him. I will still do this for pats, old habits die hard. For a young kid, it was an easy song to learn as most of it consists of “pa rum pum pum pum”.

4. Night Before Christmas (music and lyrics: Carly Simon)
It’s a folksy song which I first heard on the soundtrack of that Steve Martin movie about black comedy about depression and murder around Christmas time entitled “Mixed Nuts”. I just like the music and especially the lyrics below which speak and reach out to those alone at Christmas.

“If you’re heart’s been longing, And you’ve been afraid to try
Sorrow’s kept you company, And the dance has passed you by
I’ll lift you up and blaze with you, Across the moonlit sky
On the night before Christmas

‘Cause you don’t have to be an angel
To sing in harmony
And you don’t have to be a child to love the mystery
And you don’t have to be a wise man, On bended knee
The heart of this Christmas is in you and me

The heart of this Christmas is in you and me
The night before Christmas
The night before Christmas”

5. Santa Baby (music and lyrics: Joan Jarvits, Philip Springer and Tony Springer)
Performed by the incomparable Eartha Kitt, this is my humorous antidote to the rife consumerism and promotion of the Jolly Santa that is occurring today. Plus she just sings it so, so well.

The Soul of a Man

Altar of the Church of the Good Shepard, Tekapo, NZ.

As Christmas approaches, I am reminded that the Christ child came into this world to bring light to the world’s darkness and to lead us back to a relationship with God. The Word became flesh and His light lit up our darkness.

This song was originally written by gospel/blues singer Blind Willie Johnson in the 1930s but the lyrics below is from the cover version done by Bruce Cockburn in 1991 in his album, “Nothing but a burning light”. Bruce, himself, has travelled a long road of discovery during which he dabbled into the occult and studied Buddhism before becoming a Christian. When he announced that he became a Christian, he lost a number of his humanist fans.

The Soul of a Man
I’m going to ask the question
Please answer if you can
Is there anybody’s children can tell me
What is the soul of a man?
Won’t somebody tell me
Answer if you can
Won’t somebody tell me
Tell me what is the soul of a man?
I’ve travelled different countries
Travelled to the furthest lands
Couldn’t find nobody could tell me
What is the soul of a man
Won’t somebody tell me
Answer if you can
Won’t somebody tell me
Tell me what is the soul of a man?
I saw a crowd stand talking
I just came up in time
Was teaching the lawyers and the doctors
That a man ain’t nothing but his mind
Won’t somebody tell me
Answer if you can
Won’t somebody tell me
Tell me what is the soul of a man?
I read the Bible often
I try to read it right
As far as I can understand
It’s nothing but a burning light
Won’t somebody tell me
Answer if you can
Won’t somebody tell me
Tell me what is the soul of a man?
When Christ taught in the temple
The people all stood amazed
Was teaching the lawyers and the doctors
How to raise a man from the grave
Won’t somebody tell me
Answer if you can
Won’t somebody tell me
Tell me what is the soul of a man?

Now Watch the Video

Bruce Cockburn speaks about his faith (Excerpts from interviews)

My faith has undergone drastic transformations and reformations. I was brought up as an agnostic, even though we were surrounded by the symbolism, and when I first became a Christian in the Seventies I didn’t really know what it was I’d adopted. I’ve always been aware of the spiritual side to life, and that awareness has sometimes been very tangible and vivid. But it’s one thing to have this direct experience of contact with something that appears to be central to existence, but then there’s all the uniforms people wear and the customs they adopt. For me, part of the journey has been deciding where I fit in. In the end, I’ve decided that I don’t fit in at all. The proper place for me is outside all the groups.

I still think of myself as a Christian. The only definition of a Christian – I got this from C.S. Lewis – is somebody who accepts the reality of Christ. What is that reality? Well, there we get into fights, don’t we? I know my own experience tells me there is somebody – and it’s not a thing – at the centre of Christianity. I assume it to be Christ, and assume that’s my point of contact with God, whom none of us have a very good definition for. I like to talk about Love rather than God. What we think of as love is his expression of involvement in the universe, and that is the glue that holds everything together, from the subatomic particles up. It is also the hand that breaks us apart, but that has to do with our failure to relate to it properly.

“If I try to understand what it means to be a Christian, I look at the two instructions that were given in the Bible that are paramount, . . . and those are to love God with all your heart and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it.”