My brothers and sisters and I were always the more logical, down-to-earth type of people. We were flabbergasted that any child could honestly believe Santa Claus was real. When I was really young I couldn't imagine that any child actually really believed that Santa Claus was real, I thought they just played along for fun. After all there was no way one man in a flying sleigh could visit everybody in one night, nor could he fit down the chimney as fat as he was...and then of course, now-a-days most people don't have chimneys and those that do have chimney caps.
If Santa Claus didn't escape our brutal examination neither did the Pop Christmas songs. My older brother Timothy once remarked that Santa Claus is Coming to Town has got to be one of the creepiest songs out there for children... "he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...etc." You get the picture. Yes, maybe we were odd little people, but looking back I'm glad my parents never tried to feed us a rather absurd falsehood, when the truth is inestimably better.
Our mother taught us a lot of the older Christmas carols, all of them far more Christ centered. One of my favorites as a seven year-old was It Came Upon The Midnight Clear. I've always loved to sing and this song provided a challenge for me because of the octave leap down in the middle of the song, I practiced it over and over, until I got it perfect. Then I would sing the whole song; all four verses along with a few I'd made up just to get to that moment in each verse. It gave me chills. To this day it still strikes me as one of the most beautiful Christmas tunes I've ever learned, and while the octave jump doesn't challenge me like it did when I was seven, it's still the most thrilling moment in the song.
Angels don't get much air time in the Scriptures, and they definitely aren't supposed to be the focal point, but I think I had much happier dreams as a child with winged angels over me rather than flying reindeer. At first glance the song doesn't seem to be very Christmasy, not mentioning Christ's birth directly even once. Think about it. Angels only appear on momentous occasions and usually only one at a time and then one little baby is born in one little town and a group of Shepherds is treated to a sky bedazzled with a multitude, that's thousands of angels, perhaps more than anyone in history had ever seen at one time, praising God. I don't know about you, but that in itself marks Christmas for me as one of the most beautiful events in history.
It Came Upon The Midnight Clear is a quiet, reflective song which asks us to pause and think about what we're doing. To me, the third verse which never gets sung is the most poignant reminder of this, especially in our day and age where the world is very noisy in a way the author, who lived in the eighteen hundreds, could not begin to comprehend.
Take a moment to read this missing verse and then listen to the rest of them on this lovely recording.
Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled,
Two-thousand years of wrong.
And man at war with man hears not
The love-song that they bring.
O hush your noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing.
No wonder they don't include that in the set of verses sung today. Think about that for a moment, friends, this Christmas season, this profound truth is one we could all stand to keep in mind a little more. The very first song I sang in public happened to be this song, but if I ever do so again, I shall be sure I include this verse in my performance. ;)
One final thing before you listen to the song. You'll notice I titled the song with The midnight clear instead of A midnight clear. This simple word included in the original verse makes it clear what night the author, Edmund Sears, was referring to. Though the final part of the first verse emphasizes that by including the the angels' song of praise as recorded in Scripture.
Alright, I had trouble finding a version which sang both the carol tune rather than Arthur Sullivan's tune "Noel" which is very popular in the UK, and the third/fourth verse, which they also like to skip. ;) This version is a little faster than I'm used to but it's enjoyable and I think you'll enjoy the Irish soloist on the third verse. :) I know I did.
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth,
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, goodwill to men,
From heaven's all-gracious King."
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.
Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.
All ye, beneath life's crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
come swiftly on the wing.
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And the whole world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.
John MacArthur once said that the angels sang once at creation and will not sing again until Christ returns, and technically he's right, the angels didn't actually sing at Christ's birth, however, when I sing this song, I like to think that the angel's singing can be heard in every good and beautiful occurrence on this earth. A little fluffy and sentimental, I know, but humor me. Stop today, and listen. Can you hear the angels singing? Perhaps when that random checkout lady smiles and wishes you a Merry Christmas. Perhaps, when the highway's a mess at rush hour, and a driver slows down to allow you to merge in front of him. Perhaps when you spill you drink and a complete stranger gets down on hands and knees to help you mop it up. Perhaps, when you receive a thoughtful note from a friend unexpectedly. Listen to the angels singing their song of love and peace and joy because Christ came down to relieve us of our toilsome loads, let their song wash over your weary heart today and bring you a message of hope.
1 comments:
I agree, "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" is one of the creepiest songs ever. :P Congratulations to your parents for not teaching y'all to believe in Santa. :D
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