The Christmas season on Temple Square officially got underway today with the first of five Christmas Special editions of Music and the Spoken Word. I must say, I always enjoy singing Christmas music. And it felt nice to participate in something that helped many, today, to tap into that Christmas spirit. There is plenty about this time of year that I don't like: the crowds, trying to adhere to a Christmas budget for gifts, the cold snowy weather, and the sicknesses that seem to make their rounds. But I do like the emphasis on Christ, the family time and family traditions, and Christmas music (well, let me qualify that by saying SOME Christmas music, since the overplayed playlists that are prevalent on the radio stations are to be avoided! I mean, who really wants to hear "Santa Baby", or "Mele Kalikimaka", or "Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time" yet again for the umteenth time??)
I think my favorites from today were the two Christmas classics "The First Noel" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing", along with a French carol "Dance and Sing". The arrangements of all three of these really resonate with me. And that last 40 seconds or so of The First Noel is just really powerful.
As a bonus today, I got to sing right next to my friend Wes, which seems to only happen every couple of years. Week to week, we're always two or three seats in proximity to each other. But for whatever reason, we hardly ever sit right next to each other. He's a good person.
The next three weeks will be the busiest ones for the Choir. Along with Thursday rehearsals, we add Tuesday rehearsals and then an extra rehearsal each Sunday. But the finished product should be worth all of the time and effort. It always is.
I was thinking about the words to The First Noel today. And as I did so, I realized I didn't really know what the word "noel" actually meant. As far as I've been able to discover, it has both a French origin and a Latin one. From French, it means "of or born on Christmas". From the Latin, it means "birthday". So....while Christ was certainly not the first person born on the day he was born, He actually was the first person born on Christmas (since it's because of Him we have Christmas in the first place--which, technically was in April). Anyway, I'm grateful for Christ's birth and everything that Christ has done (and still does) for me. I hope you'll join me in trying to be more like Him this Christmas season. I'd also invite you to watch or re-watch some short music videos the choir has done in recent years that have Christ-like themes. My favorite is HERE, but these are also awesome: HERE and HERE.
Until next time, God be with you.
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