Rachel Spangler's Blog, page 30

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 16 – Away In A Manger

I don’t know why I always associate this song with Christmas plays, maybe because we sang it in some many of them throughout my childhood, or maybe it’s just well suited to children in general. Either way, we had out Church Christmas play (more on that tomorrow) and I think that working with the youth and children was the best medicine for me right now and I wanted to hold on to that energy as long as I could.

It’s only been in listening to the version I chose for this blog that I realized how comforting the simple song is in this weekend’s larger context. I hope you too can find some peace in this children’s carol.

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 15 – Grown Up Christmas List

This song pretty much says the bulk of what I have to say tonight. Just listen to the lyrics.

25 Songs of Christmas – Day 14 – O Come Emmanuel

I don’t really feel like listening to Christmas music right now.  I don’t want to celebrate anything at all.  Twenty-seven people, most of them children, won’t come home tonight.  They won’t celebrate Christmas ever again. There are no words for the sadness I feel about the events that took place in Connecticut today. Shock, disbelief, devastation, yes, but words, no.  I pray for the families of the dead, and for the lives of survivors that will never be the same, but at times like this even prayers feel cold and empty.  How could a loving God let this happen?  I know all the theological answers.  I understand free will.  I even know God’s own answer to Job on this very subject. Maybe someday that will help me put things like this into perspective, but not today.  Today there is only space for unimaginable grief and pain.

That isn’t to say my faith is useless in times of trial.  No, it gives me no reasons, and it certainly doesn’t offer an easy road, but it reminds me that I’m not alone.  It reminds me that my God knows this pain, that He doesn’t look away from our torment, but he offered his own child for our ultimate peace. We often like to white-wash the events of the Nativity, making it out to be such a sweet clean story, but that’s not reality.  Jesus was born under one of the most oppressive, violent regimes in history, and his own birth sparked a bloodshed we can’t even imagine.  It’s called the Slaughter of the Innocents.  King Herod order the killing every Jewish boy under the age of two. The blood of David’s children filled the streets. Later ,Jesus, the most innocent life ever lived, would suffer His own death at the hands of people He loved more than His own life.  His story is one of love and grace, but it is also one a pain and violence.

No, this pain is not new. Believers have cried out for thousands of years on behalf of their children.  The God we celebrate at Christmas has not saved us from this violence, and I believe it’s okay for us to question, to fear, and to be angry about that, but let us never forget that if nothing else ,Christmas shows us He knows our pain.  He shares it.  He mourns with us. We are not alone in our grief.

25 Songs of Christmas – Day 13 – Baby It’s Cold Outside

So, no great theological lesson behind this classic.  I just like it, I’m the kind of boi to use any excuse to keep a girl close. Plus I’m freezing tonight!

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 12 – Go Where I Send Thee

So I’ve been a little heavy over the last few days, and while that’s important, Christmas is also a time of great joy, and fun. So tonight I’ll step away from the deep blog messages and slow songs, to just offer you up something with a groovin beat.

Sorry the video is so bad, just look away and listen to the music because its Natalie Merchant who I got to see in Vegas a few weeks ago and I gotta tell you, she’s still got the voice.

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 11 – Take a Walk Through Bethlehem

Today’s song is a lesser known modern ditty. It’s only been on my radar for a few years now, but it’s steadily growing on me. I like the message especially as things get busy. The idea that amid all this bustle and stress we’re all searching for the same thing, we’re all celebrating the same ideas of peace, love, hope, salvation. “Every heart longs for more than tinsel,” and it’s not hard to see that if we just slow down and take a walk through Bethelem.

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 10 – Breath of Heaven

It’s one of those days that doesn’t really feel like Christmas time. I’m cleaning the disaster zone that is my house right now, making plans for our next trip, and working on Pampered Chef orders. In other other words it’s just like any other day. Plus it’s gray outside, with a little bit of drizzle but still no snow. The kind of day that’s easy to feel dreary about. If not for the Christmas music on my iTunes it might even be a little depressing. Then something wafts up to my ear on a haunting melody. A woman’s voice sings pleads, “hold me together.”

I feel her questions sink in to me. “In a world as cold as stone, must I walk this road alone?”

Suddenly it’s not just a day of house chores. There’s a stirring of anticipation, a subtle reminder that during Advent even the most mundane carries with it a sense of purpose as we prepare the way for the coming of our Lord.

A young mother making a space for a child, travelers preparing for a distant journey, people everywhere deciding what best they can offer in celebration or homage, everything t connects us to billions of others, believers in every time and place, who pause to seek the divine in our daily tasks.

I do sometimes wonder, “If a wiser one should have had my place, but I offer all I am to the mercy of Your plan.”

These emotions are not sparkly, or bright, or festive, but on closer inspection they do feel a little bit like Christmas after all.

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 9 – In The Bleak Midwinter

So rehearsals for our church Christmas play have begun.  It’s a very fun little piece, and the whole family is involved.  Susie is reprising her role as Mary.  Jackson will be Captain America, and I am playing Spiderman.  We’re traditionalists, clearly.   It’s was a lot of fun working with our youth and children today during church.  They all love their roles, and it’s heartening to see all ages so engaged with this project.  The only downside to the time was that because I wasn’t in church, I missed the chance to sing one of my favorite Christmas hymns.  The congregation did “In The Bleak Midwinter,” which isn’t as popular as some of the other standards, but I think it’s every bit as beautiful, and I suffered a moment of sadness at not getting to share it with them.  So, in an attempt to recapture that experience, I’ve chosen to share the song tonight with each one of you.

25 Songs of Christmas (Hanukkah): Day 8 – Miracle

So I know I’m a Christian, and this is Advent a time to prepare for the coming of the Light, and I’m doing that but as of sun fall  my brothers and sisters of the Jewish faith are celebrating the Festival of Lights.   I find that beyond awesome.  Light calls to Light, and when we all turn toward that light the divisions we let cloud too many situations suddenly seem so silly.  So tonight, at the Spangler house we kindled the lights of Hanukkah.

Then we danced along to the Maccabeats (we are big fans) check them out here:

25 Songs of Christmas: Day 7 – We Three Kings

This song is Jackson’s favorite this year and there’s something special about a kids adoration to bring home the fun and the magic of a simple, almost cheesy, 90′s version of a Christmas classic. We listen to it several times every day and my kid loves to bust a move to it. I hope you do too!