The Call that has Echoed Since the Day He Was Born





The King of Angels

When Nathan and I decorated for Christmas the week of Thanksgiving, I didn't feel the holiday spirit. In fact, I felt a lot of holiday nothing and kept wanting to take short cuts and leave things in boxes. I went through the motions so as to not buck tradition. But even now there aren't as many lights in my yard as in previous years.
But a week later, my parents and I drove to Athens for the annual Hodgson School of Music Holiday Concert. Doctor appointments early in the week forced me to teach later that Friday than intended, so we battled traffic on the way and found our seats only moments before the first note was sung.

The lights dimmed and the Hodgson singers began with a soft a capella piece. After a short pause when they finished, the full orchestra began the one Christmas carol that still makes me weep today. I'm having a hard time typing through tears which is ironic because I've only cried this month when I've sung this song or thought about what I felt that night at the concert.

Three hundred (or more) choral students processed in as the orchestra played O Come All Ye Faithful.
When the conductor urged the audience to join in and I began to sing, the very essence of Christmas filled my soul.

O Come All Ye Faithful... Come Joyful! And Triumphant!

A gentle command. A divine nudge. Don't just show up. Drop what you're doing. Leave it all behind. Seriously, just let it go. Come with Joy, and strength, and song, as the victor.

Come ye, o come ye, to Bethlehem.

Go to the manger. Spend time with the one who came to change the world.

Come and Adore Him, Born the King of Angels.

We, the faithful, the ones who believe, the ones who have accepted the call from darkness to light all around the world are called to abandon doubts, fears, concerns, worries, and commanded to go the manger... together. Mighty. Healed. Assured. Confident. To adore the King of Angels.

The song buckles my knees. It's declarative style, especially when accompanied by a full orchestra,  makes me feel part of generations of the faithful. I'm no longer just me and my muck. I'm part of  a whole host of humanity rising up to worship our Savior on Christmas morn. To celebrate His life. To bask in God with us, Immanuel.

With the recent national crisis, my impending ankle reconstruction surgery, and a host of other situations I could list that remind us of the constant barrage of evil we daily overcome, I'm all the more looking forward to singing this song one more time on Christmas Eve at First Presbyterian Church in Douglasville, Ga.. My mom's hand bell choir will accompany the organ with trumpet and timpani. So while not quite a full orchestra, it's a pretty decent showing.

[If you live out that way and don't have a home church to worship in Christmas Eve, the above link should display their Dec. 24th service schedule.]

We'll be celebrating the King of Angels, something I really can't wrap my brain around. But I sure enjoy trying. Because that's what it's all about. Not my surgery. Not cancers that takes lives. Not the deranged who inflict pain on the innocent.

No this is all about something so much bigger and so much more important. The God of love who sent His son to change the world.

O Come all ye Faithful. Come Joyful. Come Triumphant. And adore the one born the King of Angels.