Remembering School Christmas Memories Through Music

IEG gave the Sibling Assignment this week. 

"Write a memory about Christmas related to an experience at school."

To find out about IEG's Christmas art project, go here.  RP's will be here later.

Many of my memories about Christmas in school center around music.

When I attended Sunnyside Elementary, the sixth graders were the ones to put on the Christmas program.

Christmas programs were a bit different back then, because it wasn't wrong to have something about the birth of Christ in the program.

I still have this vivid memory of Teresa Vergobbi dressed in a black dress and reciting this reading....

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman.

He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he became a wandering preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of those things one usually associates with greatness.

He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through a mockery of a trial. He was executed by the state. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

When I was in sixth grade, I remember playing my flute for "What Child Is This?"

I also got to direct the band.

And I think it was that year I got to help at the Silver King Christmas program, by being the page turner for Mrs. Williams, our music teacher.

I still love Christmas music.  Tonight, I got to perform some Christmas tunes with The Princess and Kiki Aru at the Wallace Elks as part of the Wallace Lighting Ceremony.  It isn't every mom that can have such willing kids to go sing Christmas tunes with them.  I am blessed!!!

Z2 and PKR were not with us, because they were in Idaho Falls at the State Drama Competition.  Z2 and her partner CM made it to the final round in Ensemble Pantomime.  We are very proud of them!!!

Speaking of Christmas music, I am going to put a plug in for my blogging friend at Blog My Rabbit.  He is doing a holiday countdown of some unique Christmas music...Here is what he says..

I embark on a 27-day blog voyage, offering up daily some of my favorite Christmastime-related tracks to the yuletide spirit, in hopes that the exercise might help me enjoy the season more while annoying those around me less.

I invite you to check out Blog My Rabbit, and enjoy some unique Christmas tunes.

Here We Come A Caroling

Caroling is a big part of our family Christmas tradition. Each year at Christmas, we find some way to go out and carol.

While living in uptown Kellogg on McKinley Street, we were very close to our neighbors, and every Christmas we would don our Santa Hats and Elf Hats and walk from house to house caroling and taking plates of goodies to our friends. It was always a fun time, and much anticipated by our neighbors each year.

A few years ago, I helped start a tradition at our church. We would hop on our church bus and go to shut ins in the community and carol and give them some goodies. The past few years, we have walked around the church neighborhood delivering jars of hot chocolate mix and inviting neighbors to our Christmas program, along with caroling at each door.

I think every Christmas season for as long as can remember, I have had the opportunity to go Christmas caroling.

I enjoy it so much because of the music. Christmas carols are so beautiful, and the words share such a beautiful message of love, joy, peace and redemption. I have lived with these songs my whole life, through singing them in church and listening to them on Christmas albums.

The church I attend has more of a contemporary worship service, so we don't focus as much on the traditional Christmas hymns. Caroling is a wonderful way for people in our church to learn the words and become familiar with these traditional Christmas caroling songs.

When I wrote the Christmas pageant this year for our Sunday School program at church, the title is "Here We Come A Caroling". I took traditional Christmas songs combined with scripture and used them to tell the Christmas story, the story of Jesus' birth.

The program begins with the song "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". I love this song because of the haunting melody and the anticipation that is expressed in the lyrics. I think of the hundred of years the Jewish people waited to hear again from their God, and how many never gave up. They knew Emmanuel would eventually come, Emmanuel...God With Us.

Then out of the darkness came a glorious light...the Son of God. The waiting was over. God was now with us....in a way no one could have ever imagined.

And He continues to be with us each and every day. All we need to do is talk to Him, and He is there. We no longer have to be in the dark....because God's light has come.

Enjoy this song sung by Enya..."O Come, O Come Emmanuel."