Call me old fashioned. We Three Kings to a swing beat just doesn’t seem right. As predictable as this season’s blending of sacred and secular makes it, the lilting saxophone accompanying the sultry songstress begs the question, what’s wrong with this sound? It works for Winter Wonderland but somehow contradicts the depiction of a first-century Middle Eastern legend. Do you suppose there really was a reindeer with a glowing red nose poised over the manger in that stable of yore?
Christmas is when I most feel my estrangement from the Church. Music is paramount among the profound symbolism of this season which exemplifies the myriad of perspectives that are included in the process of birthing the Christ into the world. It’s hard to imagine that strains of Hark! The Herald Angels Sing weren’t wafting through the ancient air of that first nativity. And let’s face it; a grand choral rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful is probably not on the Top Ten playlist at holiday office parties. One is more apt to feel comfortable singing the lullaby Away in a Manger when in the company of other faithful.
No other time of year seems to possess such a unique and yet eclectic repertoire. Entering the scene shortly after the end of World War II exposed me to a whole selection of favorites which during that horrific denial of peace on Earth and goodwill toward all humankind emerged as music that profoundly affected the sentiments of those generations which immediately preceded mine. And the beat goes on…as the beauty, wonder, joy and hope of Christ born into the world touches each generation it will translate into choruses old and new of God’s transforming love!
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