This time of year is filled with the familiar melodies of
our favorite Christmas Carols. We joyously sing them over and over at the top
of our lungs until their words become engrained in our consciousness. Music is
a reflection of who we are, what our concerns are and where our hopes lie.
Someone once described music as the deepest reflection of our souls. Music
teaches, soothes, calls us to action, heals our grief, grieves our parents and
revives our childhood. Music is the quiet white space against the back drop of
our lives written in ink, never to be changed. Music is our worship in the
temple of creative grace.
King David used music to express his deepest needs, greatest
praise, most solemn remorse and his longing cries to God for his constant help.
He wrote his music in the Psalms or sacred songs of the older testament of the
Bible. He wrote of his emotions of despair after committing murder, his elation
after winning in battle, his joy in finding in God a friend he could always
trust and so much more. The Psalms down through the centuries have been one of
the most loved books, not only of the Bible but as literature. Its popularity
is I am sure due to the way it not only presented King David’s emotions but
ours in such clarity.
It use to be that the church worldwide had a repertoire of
songs that everyone knew and sang with gusto. Now it seems each congregation
has its own songs, own favorites and we have lost some of the unity with which
we once sang. While I miss this unity in song, I love the fact that music is
still a primary expression of our worship experience and is present in each and
every congregation, reflecting for most part the messages of God.
As Advent progresses and Christmas approaches, I find great
joy and comfort in once again being reminded of an enduring faith that spans
time and generations. With the Carols of the season, comes the joy of
childhood, the pensive reflections of youth, the exuberance of young adulthood
and the security of middle age, all projected into the expanse of life.
The Hallelujah Chorus breaking into the finality of both
Christmas and Easter, the Angelic voices of that first Christmas in Hark the
Herald Angels Sing and the resounding chorus of Joy to the World, bring
flooding in a lifetime of Christmas’.
May you prepare for the message of hope for the world, in
the Carols of the season, as you prepare your heart, even in song, for the
coming of the Messiah.
Rev. Michael VandenBerg
HOPE Church @ the YMCA
