Silent Night

This is my final Christmas music post for 2019. We have looked at the secular and religious music of the season. Music is a special part of our lives. It stirs our memories. It rousts our spirits. It brings us together. It challenges our personalities.

My top ten list of carols didn’t even have room for “Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.” The truth be told, I love the all the music of the Christmas season. I wouldn’t mind listening to it – off and on, not 24/7 – all year long. Sometimes I do.

My top carol for Christmas is Silent Night. My favorite versions have a twinge of jazz woven into the fabric of the presentation. I suppose that is why my favorites include a Kenny G rendition and a Spyro Gyra cover. There is something about the smooth, slower style that appeals to my spirit and chases my heart to my Savior.

I am totally biased about my favorite version of this carol.

I am blessed with four incredible children. The truth is we are a blended family and two of them technically are not mine. I have never in my life used the term “step-children” to describe mine or anyone else’s sons and daughters. Everyone navigates the waters of “family” differently, but it was always important to me that the children were not separated into “yours – mine – ours.” The children were all ours.

One of the amazing things about these children – adult children – is their musical abilities. We are not the Von Trapp family singers, but that is only because I am not the Captain. I remember being told when I was about eleven that I could not carry a tune in a number 10 washtub. I probably would need a fork-lift.

I don’t know where to start writing about the spirit and the talent of these four amazing people.

Sarah plays bass guitar for the praise and worship band at church. She picked up guitar on her own. She sang in the choirs at schools. She fulfilled one of my personal dreams when she was selected to sing in the Come Alive singers at our alma mater, Cincinnati Christian University. Of all our children, she is the one I want to stand next to in heaven when we sing praises. Her ability to harmonize makes anyone standing next to her sound better. She has the sweetest voice.

Stephanie’s voice is the most trained. Stephanie was always singing. In the car. In the kitchen. It the shower. My first memories of Steph have music coming out of her mouth. She was in the Louisville Youth Choir and choirs at her school. She holds a degree in Opera from the University of Evansville. She sang with the Louisville Opera company when she lived in Louisville. She toured with an Italian opera company. My fondest memory of Steph’s voice was her singing a song in the chapel on the campus of the Southern Baptist Seminary. I believe with all my heart that she could shatter the stained-glass windows of the building if she so desired.

Rob inherited my saxophone, and far surpassed my abilities on the instrument or the marching field. Rob is quiet about his talents. He has far more creative abilities than most realize. One day the four children sat in a corner of a storage room playing instruments and singing music on Guitar Hero. Rob kept rhythm on the percussion set. Who knew?

And then there is Rachel. Rachel appeared to be one of the ordinary “plays instruments at school” children. She began on violin in the school orchestra. Then one summer she walked into the kitchen and said, “I am going to teach myself to play the piano.” We had a piano, untuned, in the garage and by the end of the summer she was playing the keyboard. I kid that you could hand her a tuba and she would be playing music by the end of the day. She composed a song that she sung at her high school graduation. By that time, she had been leading worship for the youth services at church. Rachel has sung at Howl at the Moon locations in several cities. She performed with Billboard Onboard for the Holland-America cruise line for the past two years.

Honestly, this song could have been sung by any of our children, but the one that recorded the carol was Rachel.

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