Christmas Mix: Hymn Edition

In my parent's Honda CRV, there is a stack of CDs about an 1.5 inches thick wedged into the space just below the CD player.  That is overflow from the CDs that are actually in the CD case laying between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in the front of the car.  For the last 4+ years, my brother and I have created mix CDs for every road trip, family vacation, major event.  It is interesting and sometimes hilarious to see what we had been listening to at various times within the past 4 years.

For us, Mix CDs are a way of cataloging - like mp3 scrap-booking.  There are stories and memories that go with the songs.  The speech I gave to my class at my high school graduation was a mix of songs that I thought captured our high school experience and the futures that we were each heading into.

So without further ado, here is the Christmas Hymn Mix

1. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing

At Christmastime at my grandparents, my cousins and I used to organize a Christmas play or talent show.  For quite a few years the only Christmas song that we all knew the words to was Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.  (Although, I used to sing "mercy minor" instead of "mercy mild" - that was just my interpretation...)  The memories with my cousins, and with the rest of my family are so important.  We aren't the family that says "hey, I'll take a bullet for you."  I'm sure we would do that - but rather, we are the family that says, "I am rich in everything that matters, because I have you."  That is what is important to me at Christmas.

2. Angels We Have Heard on High

  

This is one of my favorite hymns, because I remember my dad teaching me how to pronounce Excelsis Deo one time in church.  He told me to just say "egg shells-ez," and I have always remembered that.  Gloria, in egg-shells-ez Deo.

Glory to God in the highest.

3.  Silent Night

I will always remember at the end of all of my elementary school Holiday concerts we ended with Silent Night.  A beautiful image of what that still, beautiful night was when Jesus was born.  The lights would go down in our gymnasium as everyone, all grades and their parents, joined to sing Silent Night.  I can still recall a lot of the other songs we sang - one about being a package and sending yourself to someone.  I remember the year that my class got up to sing it, and we all started singing the wrong verse - we were cracking up, but our teacher probably didn't think it was too funny.  Or the classic, Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat; Please put a penny in the old man's hat.  You can only imagine the parodies that grade-schoolers came up with for that song.  And then the stillness of Silent Night to wrap up the concert.

4. Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus

The opening words of this hymn are a great reminder of what Christmas is about.  Come, Thou long expected Jesus.  Not the presents under the tree.  Not the food on the table.  Not the lights or the extravagance.  Jesus.  He is who we are waiting for this season.  He is who we are opening our hearts to.

5. O Come All Ye Faithful

This hymn is in a big red hymn book on our piano at home.  It begins with a call to the faithful, joyful and triumphant.  Do you always fit those categories?  I know I don't.  Have you ever been grumpy, frustrated or felt defeated...and then someone asks you to hold a baby?  How do you feel with that baby in your arms?  They are probably sweet, warm, smiling.  It's hard to hold on to those negative feelings with a baby in your arms.  With the sweet, innocent baby, those burdensome feelings dissipate.  We may not come with strong faith or with a joyful and triumphant heart - but in the presence of our savior, a humble babe in a manger, who has the power to ease our burdens, we can be transformed.

6. In the Bleak Midwinter

   

My favorite verse of this song begins with "What can I give Him, poor as I am?  If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb."  At the end of the verse, it resolves "What can I give Him?  I give Him my heart."  That is the most important thing at Christmas.  It can't be purchased.  It can't be wrapped and put under the tree.  The most important thing about Christmas is that our hearts our present - with God and with our family and friends.  The world may tell you that you don't have much to give - but God tells you that you have everything to give.

(And this is also an excuse to add a little JT to the Christmas mix.  Not Justin Timberlake - the original JT :) )

7. Go Tell it On the Mountain

That is our mission and purpose - Christmas can be the starting point, but we must go out from there and let others know about greatest gift ever given.  It is truly the gift that keeps on giving and that grows bigger every time it is given.  Go out to the mountains.  Go out to the supermarket.  To your school.  Tell them with your words or with your actions - or both.  God's love was born in a manger.  Journeyed to the cross.  And His love is still overflowing from there.  

Merry Christmas!  May the love and peace of Jesus Christ be with you this season and in all the seasons!

~SP