Christmas Carols, Mall
Music and the Hallelujah Chorus!
So,
just got home from practice at church for a Christmas musical
presentation. They do a really nice
evening service with the choir singing a cantata, and bring in instruments for
an accompanying orchestra…..I have both attended and played in the orchestra
(nobody wants me to sing in the choir---especially those who have heard me
sing!). ANYWAY…..
As
I got back home and was thinking about the music, it occurs to me that I
haven’t mentioned anything about music, Christmas and divorce on the blog. There really are some huge points of
contact. Probably I should clue you in
to the fact that I am a sentimental sap, and it definitely impacts my
perspective. I remember so many times
just after the divorce, when Christmas music would play on the radio or off the CD's, and sometimes it was all I could bear to let it play through the
song. Some of those Christmas songs that
promise Christmas with that special someone ring so hollow in the time after a
divorce. Some of the songs bring back
memories of family times that have now become a part of the past instead of the
present….memories that can be pretty painful.
And some of the songs kind of spit in your face…especially that first
year after a divorce….songs about the joy of the season and the wonderful time
Christmas is….songs that simply do not match the emptiness of a broken heart.
On
the other hand, some of those songs will serve to remind you that even though
your marital world has changed, there is a constancy in life, tradition and God, that remains in spite of the changes.
People will still wish us A Merry Christmas, Christmas Eve remains a
Holy Night, Santa will still need that red nose to guide the sleigh, and Snoopy
will share a drink with the Red Baron while the Christmas bells ring. There is such a wide variety of moods and
meanings in the Christmas music, and, for me, the Christmas movies.
So
if you are one who is mourning the loss of a marriage (or maybe even the loss
of a spouse or loved one), may I suggest that you allow the music of this
season to be a vehicle for inner healing. Allow the emotions they evoke to guide you
through some of your inner struggles, hopes, fears and joys. Let the tears flow when you hear someone sing
that they long to have Christmas with that special someone or carolers come
with Christmas wishes to a lonely widow (I really like that song). Let some of the fun songs take you back to
happier times, when reindeer hooves made clicks on the roof, or when you try to
keep straight how many lords go leaping and how many dancers are dancing. Some can bring you back to the core of what
the holiday is really about, perhaps as you listen to Handel’s Messiah, or
remember the midnight clear in the little town of Bethlehem
In
fact, I ran across a pretty nice idea in my own devotional readings the other
day. Carol Knapp, a writer for the
Guideposts Devotionals, suggested finding a phrase in a Christmas song that has
meaning for you, and allow it to be the theme of the season for yourself. The example she used was the phrase “wonders
of His love” out of “Joy to the World” as a phrase that really helped her one
year reflect on Christmas in a new way, and see God’s work in the world around
her as she prepared for Christmas. Maybe
you might want to adopt her idea….it’s a pretty good one, I think. Anyway, the angels sang, Mary sang, Elizabeth
TL:dr Christmas music can be God’s tool for God’s
grace in your soul this season.
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