(Just A Few Of) My Favorite Christmas Hymns
PERHAPS THIS IS how the angelic hosts sang that Holy Night, in reverent jubilation...
George Frideric Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (I had to Google the lyrics) is quite the extraordinary meditative journey on the Incarnation; such inspired creativity. Hearing it live at the Vancouver Orpheum so long ago is still a vivid memory.
Other classic hymns help me find my way back to the central message of Christmas — peace, hope, love and joy — such as ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ and ‘O Holy Night’.
Henry Longfellow wrote ‘I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day’ (in 1854) shortly after losing his wife in a house fire. Yet the verses are so redemptive. It seems the best songs and poems that stand the test of time are the sweet fruit which buds in its season from the bitter seeds of personal struggle.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died in Flossenburg concentration camp in 1945, wrote: “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”
This one moves from despair to such hope!
The key question is how do we respond to this free gift of God’s salvation? it is not merely academic, it a faith response to what God has done for us, of trust in both the head and heart. Joy to the World says: Sages leave your contemplations, come and worship Christ the King! St. Augustine from 6th C echoes to us down the generations: “Let us sing a new song, not just with our lips but our lives.”
Bishop Phillips Brooks attempted to poetically encapsulate the vivid memories of his first visit to the Holy Lands in 1865. He tried to paint with words the sights and sounds as he approached the quaint little town of Bethlehem on horseback from Jerusalem to worship at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve. The poem has since become a favorite hymn sung around the world at Christmas How many of us can lay claim to the resounding truth of this beloved carol in our own personal pilgrimage, mingled with shadows and revelation:
Come, Thou long expected Jesus
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us,
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
Born Thy people to deliver,...This version, featuring Christy Nockels with the choir, just gives me chills every time I listen. Honestly, it chokes me up so I can barely manage to sing along.
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
George Frideric Handel’s ‘Messiah’ (I had to Google the lyrics) is quite the extraordinary meditative journey on the Incarnation; such inspired creativity. Hearing it live at the Vancouver Orpheum so long ago is still a vivid memory.
Other classic hymns help me find my way back to the central message of Christmas — peace, hope, love and joy — such as ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’ and ‘O Holy Night’.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. — 2 Corinthians 4:6
Henry Longfellow wrote ‘I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day’ (in 1854) shortly after losing his wife in a house fire. Yet the verses are so redemptive. It seems the best songs and poems that stand the test of time are the sweet fruit which buds in its season from the bitter seeds of personal struggle.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who died in Flossenburg concentration camp in 1945, wrote: “The celebration of Advent is possible only to those who are troubled in soul, who know themselves to be poor and imperfect, and who look forward to something greater to come.”
This one moves from despair to such hope!
The key question is how do we respond to this free gift of God’s salvation? it is not merely academic, it a faith response to what God has done for us, of trust in both the head and heart. Joy to the World says: Sages leave your contemplations, come and worship Christ the King! St. Augustine from 6th C echoes to us down the generations: “Let us sing a new song, not just with our lips but our lives.”
Bishop Phillips Brooks attempted to poetically encapsulate the vivid memories of his first visit to the Holy Lands in 1865. He tried to paint with words the sights and sounds as he approached the quaint little town of Bethlehem on horseback from Jerusalem to worship at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve. The poem has since become a favorite hymn sung around the world at Christmas How many of us can lay claim to the resounding truth of this beloved carol in our own personal pilgrimage, mingled with shadows and revelation:
‘Yet in thy dark streets shineth the everlasting Light
The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight’O come to us, abide in us, our Lord Emmanuel (= God With Us)! If He is for us, who can be against us (see the end of Romans 8)?
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