This is the time of the year when people dress up their homes and yards with beautiful trees glowing with lights and ornaments. This is the time of the year when some of the most beautiful music ever written, is played on radio and in churches. This is a wonderful time of the year, and this column is totally non-controversial, so it will be brief.
I wish everyone of you the merriest of Christmases, and may the new year bring new hope for the greatest nation which ever existed on God’s green earth.
Four hundred years ago, Handel wrote Messiah, basically taken from Isaiah’s prophecy of Christ. When he wrote the Hallelujah Chorus, he locked himself in his room, would take no food or nourishment, and as the music flowed from his pen, he said that he felt as if the heavens had opened to him. Heavens must have opened to him, because the Hallelujah Chorus has been the most played and sung sacred music in history probably, and it’s breathtaking beauty will resound in the minds of atheists, Christians and people around the world for eternity.
Have there ever been a more beautiful songs than, “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Oh Little town of Bethlehem,” “Oh Come All Ye Faithful,” “The First Noel,” or “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear?” All nations seem to have their own versions of Santa Claus, and even though it is doubtful that Jesus was born on Christmas, aren’t Christians glad he did come to earth? While the celebration of his birth has taken on crass commercial tones, I still love the music lights, and decorations. It’s a happy time, and I hope your Christmas is happy and joyful. See you Tuesday!