Here's my heart

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.)

The theme of Advent I is hope—anticipating the arrival of the Messiah, who will flood the world with light.

(I finally burned through the Advent candles I had for a couple of decades, so starting out with a new set this year.)

Light was a big deal for people whose lives were pretty much circumscribed by the rising and falling of the sun. Many of the traditions that have become part of Advent and Christmas revolve around pre-Christian customs of defying the darkness and cold of winter by burning things, making noise to wake up sleeping Nature and singing rather bolshy songs about various types of beverages. Well get to all that later.

The piece that’s going to kick off Advent 2023 for us is “Come Thou, Fount of Every Blessing,” written by Robert Robinson, an 18^th Century Englishman. Robinson underwent a conversion experience when he attended an evangelical meeting to heckle the speakers but instead was overcome by awe and joined up after struggling with the call for three years. He danced for a while with the Methodists and Independents before settling with the Baptists. While preparing a sermon for his church in Norfolk, England, he wrote the words to “Come Thou, Fount”, which was set to the tune Nettleton (composer unknown). 

The words describe Robinson's awakening (not too dissimilar from the words of "Amazing Grace"); they are filled with joy, which is a good way to start off on the Advent journey.

Here we have the Atlanta Master Chorale and the Morehouse College Glee Club singing it.

Crank up the volume for Advent.