MUSIC NOTES

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

   By the time this church newsletter reaches you all, we will have completed the Christmas season and made our New Year’s resolutions. The decorations will be down, the lights gone, and the tree back in the attic or in the landfill. We will have sung all the carols, opened all the presents, and for some of us, breathed a huge sigh of relief.

   As musicians, we have a special fondness for Christmas. This is the time of year when our “skills” are in constant need. Extra rehearsals, extra shows to perform, people from everywhere calling and asking, “can you play our Christmas party?”, “Can you sing for our Christmas lunch?”, or “can we meet to record a CD of sing-a-long carols?” We often remind ourselves that it is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”. 

   On the other hand, we sometimes get bogged down with the “TOO MUCH” attitude and we get cranky. Sometimes we get sick and tired of the music, the extra rehearsals, the extra lunches and concerts and parties we agree to perform at, and the constant change of music because we ran out of time. We continue to remind ourselves that it is, indeed, “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

   And then, as we sit down on January 7, and the trees are gone, and the music has stopped, and the lights are not lit, and the decorations are gone and the house and the church look so bare, we remind ourselves one more time that it is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”

   Why? Because our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born in a manger, and that is truly the Most Wonderful Thing. We remind ourselves that we needn’t be cranky, we needn’t be sick of the music, and we needn’t be worried about running out of time. We need to remember this gift that we were given. We need to remember why we have so many extra commitments during the Christmas season. WE need to remember that we were given a gift, the most extraordinary and awesome gift anyone has or will ever receive, and we all need to sing about how it truly is “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year”.

May you keep that gift in your heart everyday.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year,

Lynn and Debbie