Pentecostals at St. Mary's Episcopal Tonight

[deacon blues]

Well, my wife was out of town and I was not in the mood to just hang around the house with the kids. I wanted to get out. So we did. It was a cold, rainy evening, not one to put you in mind of Christmas. However, I had noticed in the paper an ad for the Rhodes College Singers and Brass Ensemble performing the 22nd Annual "Christmas at St. Mary's". I saw the words "Free Concert" jump out at me. Man, am I glad we went.

St. Mary's was built 150 years ago in 1858. It is beautiful. The architecture and acoustics are amazing. A crowd of about 250 settled in as the singers and the brass ensemble played. They opened with "O Come All Ye Faithful" with the pipe organ joining in and the audience invited to sing along. My four-year-old, not used to "high church" or sitting with his dad in service said big and loud at the end of the first song, "Is it done?!" His voice resonated embarrassingly so. It was a chore to keep him still through the whole concert. Fortunately, they were serving coffee and refreshments after the concert, so I bribed him with not getting cookies if he wouldn't sit still. He kept grabbing at the hymnals and prayer books and telling his sister he was "doing church".

Besides the live Dennis the Menace episode going on next to me, the music and singing was impeccable. It has been a while since I have heard such music live, maybe 25 years since I sang such tunes in my high school chorus. One song in particular was so indescribably beautiful with a young redheaded soprano singing so heavenly, I was expecting her to sprout wings and fly away at the end of the song. It brought a lump to my throat. The words to the song were profound. Read these lyrics written by Martin Luther:

"To the Holy Child"

O Lord, who hast created all,
Why hast Thou come so weak and small?
Why dost Thou choose an infant bed
Where sheep and oxen fed?
Welcome to earth, Thou noble guest,
Through whom e'en wicked men are blest!
Thou com'st to share our misery;
What can we render to Thee?
Were earth a thousand times as fair;
Beset with gold and jewels rare,
Yet it were far to poor to be
A cradle fit for Thee.

For velvets soft and silken stuff,
Thou has but hay and straw so rough,
And there, Thou King so rich and great,
Thou art enthroned in state.
So it hath pleased Thee, Lord, to make plain
Thy truth to us, poor fools and vain,
That this world's honor, wealth, and might
Are all without worth in Thy sight.

O dearest Jesus, holy Child,
Make Thee a bed, soft and undefiled,
Within my heart that it may be a quiet chamber for Thee.

The words are moving, but put to the music, in that old church setting, with those young adult voices ensembled with the brass and the organ, and then that soprano! It brought tears to the eyes.

I love the Christmas season.