Christmas 2009

-Got the blog fixed.

I wrote once about a Christmas when I was a child. Someone asked me to post it again. It is the story of the night that O Holy Night! became my favorite Christmas song.

Here it is:

*****

When I was around 10 yrs old, about 1969, I remember being at midnight mass on Christmas Eve at St. Robert's Catholic church in St. Charles, MO. My parents were involved with the choir; my mother, Shirley, sang and my father, Robert, was the choir director - despite being a Lutheran.

This midnight night mass had a special feel. The church was so beautiful, with the richness and colors of Christmas – the deep reds of the poinsettias and the greens of the wreaths, the priest and the servers in their colorful celebratory robes. Incense filled the air, and the music sounded wonderful as the choir sang the familiar Christmas hymns. And, heck, it was Christmas Eve!

For some reason the songs of the choir sounded especially beautiful that night. More than just the standard Christmas feeling, the songs seemed to ring beautifully in the night. Joy To The World. Angels We Have Heard On High. Adeste Fideles. (Venite Adoremus Dominum)

A woman sang "O Holy Night!" and it sounded so beautiful. The song seemed to hold real meaning - Fall on your knees/Hear the Angel voices The notes and words were so clear and so perfect that I decided right then, at 10 years old, that this was my favorite Christmas song.

When mass was finished, I asked my mom who was singing that song, because it sounded so pretty.

"Don't you know who that was?" she said.

I replied that I did not, and she said "That was me."

I always knew that my mom had a beautiful voice, but that night I heard the music through new ears. With my senses filled by the beauty and magnificence of the occasion, the beautiful song and the beautiful performance took on a new meaning.

That night my mother was lifted a little in the eyes and heart of a Christmas-awed little boy; and "O, Holy Night" was elevated to the top of my favorite Christmas song list, where it remains today.

Happy Christmas from Serapis.

Keller & King Quotes

Two people from whom you can usually find a nice quote are Helen Keller and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Helen Keller said:

The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker.

A nice thought. It is also a line in a Serapis song.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said:

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.

My favorite King quote is:

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.