As any child will tell you, the holidays are a time of eager expectation. Looking forward with hope has defined Christmas for many generations. Indeed, the anticipation of coming events is one of the season’s great joys. Who has not felt the thrill of opening a flap on an advent calendar, breaking a link in a red and green paper chain, or marking a special event on December’s calendar? In some ways the anticipation of festive events can almost be as satisfying as the events themselves.
One grandmother knew this well and decided to breed hope in the hearts of her grandchildren. The first week in December, she started sending little cards in the mail. About every four or five days, a grandchild received a greeting card with just his or her name on it. The cards usually contained a short note, like “Good things happen at Christmas” or “Start counting the days.” And somewhere in all of the cards was an invitation to a Christmas party with their grandmother, no adults invited. The grandchildren had as much fun looking forward to their special night with Grandmother as they did at the actual party.1
The advent of Christmas can awaken in us a zest for life, a feeling of hope in the unknown future, a memory of good times past when we too looked forward with great anticipation. The British poet Charles Mackay encouraged us to find the joy the season promises when he wrote:
Let not the useless sorrow
Pursue you night and morrow:
If e’er you hoped, hope now;
Take heart,—uncloud your faces,
And join in our embraces
Under the Holly Bough.2
As we anticipate this joyous season, we would do well to feel the hope that can be found within and around us. This is the season of glad tidings and good news. Feel the hope of Christmas, and welcome a newness of life into your heart and home.
1. See Virginia H. Pearce, Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley (1999), 169.
2. “Under the Holly Bough,” The Poetical Works of Charles Mackay (1876), 580.
Program #4237
Musical Selections:
1. O Come Emmanuel
Traditional; arr. Arthur Harris; Arrangement Unpublished
2. Behold! He Shall Be Born of Mary, from The Redeemer
Robert Cundick; Jackman Music
3. And the Glory of the Lord, from Messiah
George Friderich Handel; Public Domain
4. Joseph Dearest, Joseph Mine (Organ solo)
German Carol; arr. Robert Hebble; Lorenz Publishing
5. What Shall We Give?
Catalonain carol; arr. Mack Wilberg; Oxford University Press
6. Spoken Word
7. Sing We Now of Christmas
Medley arranged by Michael Davis; Arrangement Unpublished
Music & the Spoken Word
A program of inspirational music and spoken word.