O Holy Night
I
was brought up short by a comment Jim made on a post I’d put up just over eight
months ago, ‘Roll Back the Stone’. Brought up short is about the only way to
get my attention during these days of celebration; Thanksgiving, Christmas,
birth announcements, weddings, and all sorts of things I need to be doing.
Somehow Jim took a post where I confess that I keep a stone across my heart
mostly to keep Jesus out rather than in and followed it up with a question that
stopped me in my tracks.
Jim
askes when considering ‘no room at the inn’ during this Christmas season, “Do
our daily lives shuffle Jesus to our barns?”
Oh
my yes, regrettably so. I am the posterchild for this. I’ve been keeping an
action item list over the last month or so and the category of household/family
items far outweighs two important categories for me – Writing and
LCPC/Spiritual Growth. I agonize over it every time I go to the list.
One
of the beauties of Jim’s comment is that he provided a link to Kerrie Roberts’
performance video of her singing ‘O Holy Night’. If you don’t read any further,
take a listen – I’ve included the complete lyrics below the main post. Here is
the link:
A wine
merchant and poet named Placide Cappeau was persuaded to write a poem to commemorate
the renovation of a church organ. Adolphe Adam composed the music for it and it
was premiered by opera singer Emily Laurey in 1847. There are a number of
variations and performances of the carol and it has long been a favorite of
mine. Research on its origins and translations has done nothing to render my
love for ‘O Holy Night’ any less and "Cantique de
Noël" has taken rather more significance for me.
I love the
hope it gives – ‘For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.’
I love and
seek to obey the command – ‘Fall on your knees!’
I have loved
reading the second verse and bridge, parts of the song I wasn’t aware of until
now because they are not performed by Roberts nor any others I’ve listened to
leading up to this post. And I now cling to the promise – ‘In all our trials
born to be our friend. He knows our need, to our weaknesses no stranger’. And the
command at the end of the second bridge – ‘Before Him lowly bend!’
The third
verse gives us admonitions to ‘love one another. His law is love and his gospel is
peace,’ and ‘in His name all oppression shall cease.’
Finally –‘Let
all within us praise His holy name.’
Sing people! Let
Jesus out of our barns. Fall on our knees and before Him, let us lowly bend and
praise his holy name.
As Jim signed off
to me, so I sign off to you, ‘joy to the world. Let every heart prepare him
room.’
jerry
O Holy Night
O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope,
the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
O night divine, O
night, when Christ was born
O night divine, O night, O night divine
Chains he shall
break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
Then ever, ever praise we
Noel, Noel, O night, O night divine
Noel, Noel, O night, O night divine
O night divine, O night, when Christ was born
O night divine, O night, O night divine
Blog Post Notes:
You can find much of this information in the Wikipedia and a list at the bottom
of notable renditions of the songs. Some of the dates don’t match other sources
I read and put the writing of the lyrics and music in 1847, the same year it
was debuted. The list of performers is impressive and worth a scan. Maybe you
can find a favorite version of your own.
Also note that as I was
finishing up the first draft of this John Denver’s version started playing from
his ‘Rocky Mountain Christmas’ CD. I hadn’t listened to before and had no idea
he did ‘O Holy Night’.
