Lord, we greet thee

Well, here we are: fourth Sunday before Christmas, so it must be Advent. Time for seasonal music as we prepare for the celebration of Christ’s birth.

It’s hard for non-Christians (and ever for a lot of self-proclaimed Christians; looking at you, evangelicals) sometimes to understand that Advent is meant to be a quiet period of reflection and contemplation, not a frenzy of mandatory jollity, festive frivolities and conspicuous consumption.

Yeah, good luck with that—we’re swimming against the tide here. But every year I do my best to pull back some, slow down (ha!) and try to consider quietude as an option.

This, of course, does not include music, so let’s strap in and get ready for 25 days of Christmas and other seasonal music. (You know I’m Catholic, not parochial.)

Usually I start out with the über Advent carol, “Veni, Veni, Emmanuel”, but not this year. Today I’m going with something you usually find later in the season (like, Christmas Eve), “O Come, All Ye Faithful”. You can see why it's not generally sung in the first days of the season; it urges the faithful to come joyfully and triumphantly to Bethlehem. Joy comes later in the cycle.

One of the later verses starts out, "God of God, light of light", and that just fills my heart. Light of light—that's precisely what we need in these dark times. So I'm in.

This version is a little, uh, showy—suitable, no doubt for the former music director of the local Episcopal church, who used to showcase the vocal stylings of his wife at every opportunity. Voctave is an acapella jazz/pop/show tune ensemble. Not normally my cup of Darjeeling, but I’m kinda fascinated by their unaltering smiles as they sing.

Now you can be, too.

(That’s not very Adventy of me, is it? Okay, I shall try harder in future. I have 24 days to reform.)