The First Week in Advent
We have parakeets in the kitchen. Sometimes they are quiet. Sometimes they make a racket. But in the last few days we have started playing a Christmas music radio station, and they seem very attentive. They like it. I wonder: do birds actually appreciate music?
And why do we, human beings, fill our lives with it? Music is certainly is something primal, touching us all at a deep place. Expectant mothers play Mozart so that their in utero babies can hear it. Supposedly it makes them smarter. I imagine, also, that it makes them more peaceful. I think maybe that there is something about rhythm and meter that mimic the sound of our mother's heart. And song touches a part of the brain other than the logical, analytical gray matter. Music is memory. It carries us home, gives us joy, a sense of well-being. It touches our better angels, gives our heart wings. We sing to love, to praise, to lament, to proclaim. We sing because we can’t keep ourselves from it. That's why it doesn't matter what you preach on Christmas Eve, as long as you sing "Silent Night."
This morning I wrote these words, sang them to the parakeets.
Advent Hymn
(sung to the tune Hyfrydol,
“Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus)
Hope is born in day's first light.
With the sun, the hills ascending,
Raise us from the bonds of night.
Waken all our human senses,
Give us bright, expectant eyes
That in simple, daily living
Love may work its great surprise.
God of noontime, Lord of laughter,
Sing a tune of joy and grace.
Keep us faithful in our labors
Blessing every common place.
Let your music raise our spirits,
Turn our life into a song,
Bringing order into chaos,
Spreading harmony all day long.
God of evening, Lord of starlight,
Call our weary hearts to rest.
Gather all who bear life's burdens,
In your peaceful presence blessed.
Let our busy hearts remember
Gifts of grace and joy we share.
Let our sleep be hopeful, healing,
In your strong and tender care.
--Timothy Haut, December 4, 2013
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