tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-174287882024-03-07T15:09:59.162-08:00The Optimystiquefrom my window to yoursAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.comBlogger411125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-22326726046335094782016-12-24T07:25:00.001-08:002016-12-24T07:25:51.403-08:00#411, in which the weary world rejoices<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I mentioned yesterday, my favorite Christmas song is "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," but "O Holy Night" felt like the most appropriate song to write about for Christmas Eve. That might be because I have an association with this song and the Christmas Eve sequence in <i>Home Alone</i>, but I like to think it's because the song is so much about the night He was born.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Like "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," much of this song is about not just the night of His birth, but about the years and ages leading to that moment. "Long lay the world in sin and error pining," we sing, and it could be as much about the night He came as it could be about the time of Isaiah, or Noah. The world was in thrall to sin and corruption, and there was no way for us to get out until our Savior came. And so we waited, and we waited, hoping for the moment to arrive when He came and "the soul felt its worth." You can think of that in terms of our soul feeling relief at redemption, but I think we could also feel our soul's worth knowing that this Child would be the one to take upon Him all of our sins and infirmities. We know how those feel, and knowing that someone else will take them gives you a clear sense of exactly how much they weigh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And then a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices. We are so worn down by our inadequacies and our inability to even cleanse our own sins, let alone anyone else's, and then to have that announcement come, to see the star, to hear the heralds, to see the Magi, causes us to have a fleeting moment of joy cut through the darkness of doubt and fear making us think we can do this.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So we sing our praises to Him in the chorus. Fall on your knees, praise His name forever, and behold your King, we shout. We go from dark despair that we can't escape to the brightness of midday all at once. If that's not worthy of joy, then what is?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!<br />O night divine, O night when Christ was born;<br />O night divine, O night, O night Divine.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Merry Christmas, friends. Make it a joyous one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/410-in-which-emmanuel-shall-come-to.html">O Come, O Come, Emmanuel</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/409-in-which-one-can-hear-falling-snow.html">Still, Still, Still</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/408-in-which-we-are-glad-to-tell-of.html">The Friendly Beasts</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/407-in-which-shepherds-guard-and-angels.html">What Child is This?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/406-in-which-with-mary-we-behold-it.html">Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
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<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html" style="font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;">Little Drummer Boy</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-67998090536687195582016-12-23T09:03:00.000-08:002016-12-23T09:03:25.488-08:00#410, in which Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Full disclosure: "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel" is without reservation my favorite Christmas song. Ordinarily I'd save that for last in the series, but there's a song coming tomorrow that I felt was more appropriate for Christmas Eve.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I think I like this song so much because of the starker, more medieval feel to the tune. While the exact origin of the song is unclear, it sounds very much like a Gregorian chant. The tune was found among a collection of burial chants in the 15th century, so whether or not it's Gregorian, it's definitely a chant rather than something more melodious. It's not flowery or lilting so much as it is solemn, and that's fitting, considering the lyrics. Listen to the first verse:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">O come, O come, Emmanuel,<br />And ransom captive Israel,<br />That mourns in lonely exile here,<br />Until the Son of God appear.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are not celebrating His birth in this song, not yet, because we are singing from a time in which He has yet to come. If we're singing about "captive" Israel, then this is centuries before His coming, and that helps us understand why the music sounds almost mournful and resigned. This is a people that has been beaten down by decades of oppression and captivity. This isn't a joyous song because there's been precious little to celebrate. And yet, despite everything, a message from the prophets is repeated time and time again that there <i>is</i> something to celebrate:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel<br />Shall come to thee, O Israel.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The song continues like this for five verses. Israel calls to its Redeemer from the depths of its sorrow. It calls for aid from tyranny, from gloom, and from misery. And every time the call is made, it is answered with the promise of deliverance. The call is made five times, and the response all five times is essentially, "Trust me, He will come to you. Be patient."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The message of Christmas is one of hope because He has come, and it was a message of hope because he was going to come. It's just that sometimes it's difficult to see that hope when it isn't right in front of our faces. Faith is difficult, but fortunately for us, we are given frequent reminders and gifts that remind us why we have that faith. The message is repeated over and over so it's never too far from our minds. It's a message of redemption, of ransom, and of deliverance, and the fact that we hear it so often makes it one of mercy, too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/409-in-which-one-can-hear-falling-snow.html">Still, Still, Still</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/408-in-which-we-are-glad-to-tell-of.html">The Friendly Beasts</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/407-in-which-shepherds-guard-and-angels.html">What Child is This?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/406-in-which-with-mary-we-behold-it.html">Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-1095475304166618132016-12-22T07:45:00.001-08:002016-12-22T07:45:45.349-08:00#409, in which one can hear the falling snow<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Still, Still, Still" is originally an Austrian lullaby. A handful of other Christmas songs are lullabies ("<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/373-in-which-i-love-thee-lord-jesus.html">Away in a Manger</a>" and "<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/375-in-which-loves-pure-light-radiant.html">Silent Night</a>" being two notable examples), and to me, they're very effective at heightening the sense that not only had the Savior come into the world, but that He did so as a newborn, the same way the rest of us entered the world. They're gentle, soothing, and peaceful, which is the way I feel about Christmas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Still, still, still<br />One can hear the falling snow.<br />For all is hushed,<br />The world is sleeping,<br />Holy Star its vigil keeping.<br />Still, still, still,<br />One can hear the falling snow.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">More so than the other two lullabies I mentioned and wrote about above, this song feels quiet to me. Perhaps you live somewhere where it's either snowed recently or is snowing now, but the idea of hearing falling snow is interesting to me. Rain can be noisy. Hail can be very noisy. Snow is just the opposite--not only does snow make virtually no sound as it falls, but the accumulating snow also ends up dampening other sounds, making the outdoors virtually silent as it comes down. If there was snow falling as the Savior was born, I would imagine it was the same sort of silent. The world was hushed, suggesting reverence at the coming of its Creator.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Snow is more readily associated with winter than with Christmas specifically, I would guess, but I like the association just the same. Everything is quiet and clean as snow falls, and that's fitting as we celebrate the birth of the One who cleansed and purified us. He gave us a fresh start, and that's worthy of a hushed, reverent greeting. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Dream, dream, dream,<br />Of the joyous day to come.<br />While guardian angels without number<br />Watch you as you sweetly slumber.<br />Dream, dream, dream,<br />Of the joyous day to come</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This last verse isn't as perfectly clear to me, but this could be Easter. Big things were ahead for the Babe of Bethlehem, but maybe nothing so big as His resurrection and ultimate victory over sin and death. Awful things were in store for Him, too, so the injunction of the singer for the Child to sleep on as angels watch Him is a tender one. He spent His every moment thinking of others, but at this vulnerable time, others took that load from Him. Angels watched, but so did shepherds and animals, as well as a loving but no less overwhelmed Mary and Joseph.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wrote about this when I wrote about "Away in a Manger," but this is a lullaby not only for the baby Jesus, but also for our own troubled souls. It's difficult to sing a song like this and not be comforted yourself. We sing gently and softly in order to soothe an upset child, and in so doing, we can soothe ourselves. It's a gift that can be shared, and in that way, it's not unreasonable, I think, to imagine that as the Savior spent so much of His own life serving and bearing up others that He too was lifted up in spirit by those actions.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/408-in-which-we-are-glad-to-tell-of.html">The Friendly Beasts</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/407-in-which-shepherds-guard-and-angels.html">What Child is This?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/406-in-which-with-mary-we-behold-it.html">Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-88423514331340571942016-12-21T06:39:00.000-08:002016-12-21T06:39:02.226-08:00#408, in which we are glad to tell of the gifts we gave Emmanuel<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The Friendly Beasts" is a soft, gentle, simple song. We sing about a lot of different aspects of the Nativity in our carols, but I think this might be the only one where we get to hear from the animals themselves. It's a nice idea, hearing what they have to say and how they participated in the birth of their Savior.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Each animal has its own role to play. The donkey tells of how it bore Mary on its back on her journey to Bethlehem. The cow offered its manger to hold the baby Jesus and its hay for a makeshift pillow. The sheep offered its wool as a coat, and the dove sang Him to sleep from the rafters. The camel brought the Magi with their gifts to visit the Savior. </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thus every beast by some good spell<br />In the stable dark was glad to tell<br />Of the gift he gave Emmanuel,<br />The gift he gave Emmanuel.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The point isn't that any of the animals gave a greater gift than the others, and the point also isn't that any of them are trying to upstage each other. They're all just pleased that they had a chance to participate in such an incredible event, and as lowly stable animals, no less. Each is "glad to tell" what it was able to do and give.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's a moral here, if we care to see it. At Christmas we can get caught up in gift giving and receiving, weighing our pile against someone else's, or comparing who was able to give the most impressive gift. We can try to serve, or try to organize gatherings, or any of a number of things in order to make ourselves look impressive. It's human nature, unfortunately. We are self-interested from birth. But perhaps we can look at these animals and learn that we can be grateful for the opportunity to give gifts at all. We can be grateful for the chance to participate in a celebration of the birth of our Lord. We can look at our fellow man as equals and rejoice that each of us has something to give. When compared with the gift the Savior gave us of redemption from sin, none of our gifts is particularly impressive, but he accepts what each of us has to offer with the same humility and gratitude. We can do the same when looking at each other and what we are able to give.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">These simple songs sometimes end up being the sweetest ones to hear.</span><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/407-in-which-shepherds-guard-and-angels.html">What Child is This?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/406-in-which-with-mary-we-behold-it.html">Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-42012959296112388392016-12-20T03:26:00.001-08:002016-12-20T03:26:32.724-08:00#407, in which shepherds guard and angels sing<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We're talking about "What Child is This?" today. I've always liked this one, and I'm not sure I can really place why. Maybe it's the tune, maybe it's the times and places I've heard it, I'm not sure, but I've always enjoyed this one.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What Child is this<br />Who laid to rest<br />On Mary's lap is sleeping?<br />Whom Angels greet with anthems sweet,<br />While shepherds watch are keeping?</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The question "what child is this?" is a rhetorical one. We all know who this Child is. We know why He is resting on Mary's lap. We know why angels heralded Him, and we know why shepherds came to watch Him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Knowing all of this doesn't make it any less miraculous, though. Angels <i>did</i> herald Him. Shepherds, complete strangers in the countryside, <i>did</i> come to watch Him. Mary, a virgin, <i>did</i> give birth to Him. He came, He suffered for us, and He lives. It's an amazing thing. We aren't asking <i>who</i> the Child is when we sing this song, we're asking <i>what sort </i>of Child must this be to warrant so many amazing things happening.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This, this is Christ the King,<br />Whom shepherds guard and Angels sing<br />Haste, haste, to bring Him laud,<br />The Babe, the Son of Mary.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I imagine those shepherds watched the manger scene with awe. These were common people, living ordinary lives, called to bear witness to something extraordinary. They probably kept that incredible memory with them throughout their lives. They may have told their children and grandchildren what they saw, or they may have kept those things in their hearts. No matter how they reacted, though, the experience was an amazing one.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our experience may be similar. We are called to be witnesses of Him, and we may react with wonder. We may tell everyone we know, or we may treasure it up in our heart, but I imagine we are filled with awe, sufficient for us to also wonder what Child this is.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Q14nus_QURw" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/406-in-which-with-mary-we-behold-it.html">Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-44792817770627109952016-12-19T04:15:00.000-08:002016-12-19T04:15:25.214-08:00#406, in which with Mary we behold it<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen" is the name of today's song, more commonly known in English as "Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming." You may be able to guess, but the song is German in origin, and has to do with a prophecy foretold to Isaiah: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." Most of the songs we sing for Christmas have to do with witnessing the manger scene, but in this one, we sing about the fact that the birth was foretold centuries in advance.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lo, how a rose e'er blooming,<br />From tender stem hath sprung.<br />Of Jesse's lineage coming,<br />As men of old have sung;<br />It came, a flow'ret bright,<br />Amid the cold of winter,<br />When half spent was the night.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Isaiah referred to the Savior as a "rod," perhaps emphasizing His role as lawgiver and governor, but the choice in this song to refer to Him as a rose emphasizes instead His beauty and gentleness, I think. (Yes, every rose has its thorn.) I think the image of a rose is also carefully chosen in that it suggests a surprising beauty, to me at least. The nation of Israel was watching for their Savior for countless ages, but they did not expect Him to come to a backwater town like Bethlehem. That such a grand event would happen in a tiny town like this must have been surprising, to say the least.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Isaiah 'twas foretold it,<br />The Rose I have in mind,<br />With Mary we behold it,<br />The virgin mother kind;<br />To show God's love aright,<br />She bore to men a Savior,<br />When half spent was the night.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The phrase "with Mary we behold it" speaks volumes to me. She and Joseph were joined in the stable by animals, shepherds, and later the Magi, all of whom beheld the Babe with wondering awe. None of them knew as she did what this Child would become. An angel appeared to her and told her who the Child would be, and she willingly consented to bear Him, but I think even she must have been overcome at the magnitude of the moment. It's one thing to expect a baby and do your best to prepare for it, but it's something else entirely once the baby is real, and in your arms, and looking to you for comfort and protection. To have that baby also be the Savior of the world must have been overwhelming. And so we behold it, all of us, shepherds and magi alike, together with Mary, only dimly grasping the cosmic importance of the tiny King in the manger.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's a very gentle song, fitting for a gentle scene, and aptly represented by a gentle image. </span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kU-E46o0sp0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/405-in-which-woe-is-me-poor-child-for.html">Coventry Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-55415089646423874352016-12-18T05:02:00.000-08:002016-12-18T05:02:48.283-08:00#405, in which woe is me, poor child, for thee<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've always liked "Coventry Carol," and I was already planning on writing about it when someone suggested I wrote about the song "Lullay Lullay." I like that one, too, so I added it to the list, only to find that they're two tunes to the same song. Who knew?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Coventry Carol" comes from a play called <i>The Pageant of the Shearman and Tailors. </i>The scene depicted as "Coventry Carol" is sung is the Massacre of the Innocents--the order given by King Herod to kill all male children under the age of two in Bethlehem in order to prevent the prophesied King from usurping his throne. We don't often sing about this, and at least in my experience, this isn't often something we discuss at Christmastime, either. It's a haunting story, one in which violence is inflicted on those who are wholly innocent and utterly unaware of why they are being attacked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The tune is haunting, too, at least the one I've chosen:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UFnM8pSsyUU" width="560"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's a song of grief and anguish, both for the children slaughtered in Bethlehem and for the little Lord Jesus, forced to flee to Egypt at such a young age to escape the wrath of a tyrant. The injustice of the situation, to me, is heightened by the song's description as not just a child, not just a little child, but a "little tiny child." It's a strange contrast to the usual feelings of joy and peace that we have as we sing about the Nativity.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's no less an important part of the Christmas story, though. It happened, it was prophesied of in advance, and the Father provided a way for the Child to be protected and out of harm's way. It's a testament to us that the Father is perfectly aware of us. He knew how Herod would react when he heard about the newborn King, so He prepared a solution. He knows how we will react when we face heartache, suffering, pain, and trials, and He can prepare a solution. It doesn't always take the form we're looking for--I can't imagine Joseph and Mary were wild about the idea of leaving friends, family, and livelihood in Palestine to go to Egypt--but it does always take the form that is best for us.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's a different Christmas song, but a really good one. Enjoy it today, friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/404-in-which-holly-bears-crown.html">The Holly and the Ivy</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-65338838223133270312016-12-17T05:49:00.002-08:002016-12-17T05:49:50.123-08:00#404, in which the holly bears the crown<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"The Holly and the Ivy" is unusual among the songs we're considering in that there's only very little mention of the Nativity and that the setting of the song is not wintry, but instead verdant. As the title suggests, we sing about plants and greenery, which have their own symbolism. Holly was a sacred plant to druids, and it had a strong relation with the winter solstice, the time of year that came to be associated with Christmas. That's how holly came to be used as a Christmas decoration, and also why green and red are traditional Christmas colors.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The green of the ivy is what it is (symbolic of life? renewal?), but the symbolism of the red of the holly berries should be obvious:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The holly bears a berry,<br />As red as any blood,<br />And Mary bore sweet Jesus Christ<br />For to do us sinners good.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The song touches on various aspects of holly--its blossoms, its berries, its thorns--and relates each of them to the birth of the Savior. And then with each chorus, we go back to the world of plants and greenery.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The rising of the sun<br />And the running of the deer,<br />The playing of the merry organ,<br />Sweet singing in the choir.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's an interesting juxtaposition, to me at least, of a sacred topic and one that isn't. But then, I guess that's what Christmas ends up being much of the time. We have to switch back and forth between celebrating the birth of the Savior and the gift-giving and light-hanging of the season. There's nothing wrong with that, of course; we aren't asked to spend every moment of our lives in deep, soulful contemplation of the divine. We do other things with our lives, too, and that's normal. So, too, I guess, do we sing about the Savior and ivy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l7eHtDtZ7hs?list=RDl7eHtDtZ7hs" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/403-in-which-there-is-song-high-above.html">Do You Hear What I Hear?</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-16061517076545602362016-12-16T04:19:00.000-08:002016-12-16T04:19:11.691-08:00#403, in which there is a song high above the trees<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today we consider "Do You Hear What I Hear?" It's a pretty little melody, one that latches on in your brain easily, but with what I consider to be a lot of fluff for the lyrics. We spend a lot of time describing the star "dancing in the night with a tail as big as a kite," but not much time singing about the Child.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But we've talked quite a bit about Him thus far. Take a moment and see what you can notice in the second verse:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,<br />"Do you hear what I hear?<br />Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,<br />Do you hear what I hear?<br />A song, a song high above the trees<br />With a voice as big as the sea,<br />With a voice as big as the sea."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Notice anything? To me, this isn't a song about the birth of the Child Jesus so much as it's a song about His appearance. Heralds appeared to shepherds, and a star appeared in the heavens, but to many, the night the Savior of the world was born was probably much like any other night. There were no proclamations, no time off from work, no celebrations of the glorious event. Instead, everyone was huddled in inns, heading home to be taxed. If they were thinking of anything, it was likely making sure that everything was in order for that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet in this song, we ask ourselves if we have heard the message. The announcement of His coming is hovering over the top of the song (peaking at that floating "I"), if only we will crane our ears up to hear. It's there, "dancing in the night," "high above the trees," freely available for us, provided we make the effort. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Many of the Savior's teachings included some variation of the phrase, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." It was the same at His birth, and it is the same today. We can make the effort to hear His message in our lives. He calls to us with a still small voice, and it takes effort and practice to make it out. If we don't make that effort, it's very easy to miss, just as I imagine it would have been easy to miss His birth all those years ago. If you're taking the time to read these, I imagine you're making that effort, but just the same, try to take some time to see, hear, and know what we say we do when we sing this song. The Lord came to earth, and He still lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/402-in-which-there-was-blessed-messiah.html">Wexford Carol</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-39716092666600571132016-12-15T04:24:00.002-08:002016-12-15T04:24:58.082-08:00#402, in which there was a blessed Messiah born<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today we consider "Wexford Carol," which I didn't think I'd heard before until I pulled it up on YouTube. We had an instrumental version of this growing up that we listened to every Christmas, and which I expect to hear when I head back home next week.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KeZifgblGSs" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A quick listen will tell you that the song is Celtic in origin, and in fact, was originally titled "Carúl Loch Garman" in Irish. I'm not familiar with many Irish Christmas carols, so this was a treat to discover. Thanks to those of you that suggested it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I typically include most of the lyrics to these songs here in the post, but this one is so lengthy that I'm just going to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wexford_Carol#English_lyrics">link them here</a>. Suffice it to say, though, that the message of this song is much more all-encompassing than anything we've discussed to this point. The lyrics start with the Babe born in Bethlehem, but also discuss the journey from Nazareth, the inability of Mary and Joseph to find lodging, the animals in the manger, the herald angels appearing to the shepherds, and the visit of the Magi some years later. With the exception of Herod, this song touches on pretty much every aspect of the Christmas story as recorded in the New Testament.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So what do I have to discuss with you, when I have virtually everything to choose from? Well, while this song is rich in description of the Nativity, it goes a little beyond that with the lovely lines below:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Within a manger he was laid<br />And by his side a virgin maid<br />Attending on the Lord of Life<br />Who came on earth to end all strife.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"<i>Who came on earth to end all strife</i>." We often hear people complaining about the stress of the holiday season, but this song reminds us that the Savior came to take those things from us. He took upon Himself our sins, yes, but also our weaknesses and infirmities so that he can lift us up during times of, well, strife. He suffered to redeem us, but also, if I'm understanding correctly, so He can understand what it's like to have to prepare Christmas Eve dinner for seventeen while relatives argue about politics. His yoke is easy and His burden is light, and He's eager and willing to take our pain on Himself, if only we will let Him.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So we let Him, or at least, we sing about the fact that He's willing to do that for us. We remember who He is and what He has done for us, and we remember not only His birth, but also His life and what it meant. It's a nice little song, and the simple, easy to play melody helps it stay in your head so you can keep the message around a little longer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/401-in-which-all-bells-on-earth-shall.html">I Saw Three Ships</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-7579606292907936672016-12-14T04:20:00.000-08:002016-12-14T04:20:31.566-08:00#401, in which all the bells on earth shall ring<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I saw three ships come sailing in</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I saw three ships come sailing in</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On Christmas Day in the morning</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today we consider "I Saw Three Ships," and with it, one of the greatest mysteries in all of Yuletide melody: <i>Why are there ships in the Holy Land?</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Bethlehem is about twenty miles from the Dead Sea and even further still from the Mediterranean. There are no rivers that lead to Bethlehem, nor any that go through it. There are no lakes, no ponds, no puddles in Bethlehem. There is absolutely no reason of any kind for a ship to be in Bethlehem, let alone three.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And what was in those ships all three</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">And what was in those ships all three</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On Christmas Day in the morning</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So why are we singing about ships coming to Bethlehem? Why are we singing about ships that arrived to the nativity on the morning of His birth in landlocked Bethlehem? Are they symbolic? Are they secretly camels? Are they actually the wise men?</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Virgin Mary and Christ were there<br />On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day<br />The Virgin Mary and Christ were there<br />On Christmas Day in the morning</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm at a loss to explain the ships, honestly, but it doesn't seem like I'm alone in that. Musical historians don't have any sort of consensus on what they mean, either. It's a complete mystery, and one that I don't suspect has any sort of meaningful answer. So let's set it aside and look at the end, where we sing that "all the bells on earth shall ring" and "all the souls on earth shall sing." That's much more straightforward, and something I don't have to spend hours scratching my head over. The earth rejoiced at the coming of its Lord and Creator. So did its inhabitants, at least the ones to whom it was announced. The shepherds came as they heard the angelic heralds, and the magi followed some time after. We still ring bells on Christmas, and we still rejoice. We still feel the sacredness of the day, and the joy at knowing that our Savior came to earth, and that He still lives.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">No, I don't know why we sing about ships, and neither do you, but it's plainly a song of rejoicing, and maybe that's enough.</span><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KD5zzJUKIHc" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/400-in-which-star-is-westward-leading.html">We Three Kings</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-3849994311741618652016-12-13T04:22:00.000-08:002016-12-13T04:22:24.779-08:00#400, in which the star is westward leading, still proceeding<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today's song is one that I think everyone is familiar with: "We Three Kings." The words of the first verse and the refrain are almost common knowledge, but I'll post them here anyway as you listen to the video I've included at the end:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We three kings of Orient are;<br />Bearing gifts we traverse afar,<br />Field and fountain, moor and mountain,<br />Following yonder star.<br /><br />O star of wonder, star of night,<br />Star with royal beauty bright,<br />Westward leading, still proceeding,<br />Guide us to thy perfect light.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The wise men, however many of them there actually were, are journeying to Bethlehem to present their gifts to the newborn Jesus. The exact location the "Orient" is referring to isn't clear--opinions include Yemen, Arabia, Persia, India, and Babylon--but what is clear is that they had to travel a great distance to greet the Savior, long enough that the child Jesus was considerably out of babyhood by the time they arrived. The magi saw the star and followed it, trusting that the Savior of the world was at the end of their road.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The Star of Bethlehem, whatever it was, is no longer visible, but there are still signs that point us to our Lord, if we care to look for them. We can look for good works, we can look for peace, and we can look for love. The star, in that sense, is still high above the earth, westward leading, still proceeding. If we chose to follow it, it will still lead us to its perfect Light.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But the first verse and refrain are far from all of the song. Each of the magi has his own verse to sing about the gift he is bringing to the child. Gold and frankincense are to honor the King and Ruler of the earth, but the verse about myrrh talks about something we haven't heard in any of the songs and hymns I've written about so far. Listen:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Breathes a life of gathering gloom;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Sealed in the stone cold tomb.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Here we aren't singing about His birth, as we do in most of these songs, nor are we singing about His second coming, as we did in "<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/364-in-which-israel-spreads-abroad.html">Joy to the World</a>" and "<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a>," but instead, we are singing about his death. The third wise man singing about his Lord being "sealed in the stone cold tomb" to me suggests that he was not completely ignorant about why He had come to earth. He came not to rule and reign, as He would the second time He came, but to atone and redeem each of us from sin and death.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The final verse seems to make this clear:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Glorious now behold Him arise;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">King and God and sacrifice;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alleluia!, Alleluia!,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Rings through the earth and skie</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">s</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is a song that would not be out of place for Easter. We sing of His death, but we also sing of the hope His atonement and resurrection bring us. I've often heard it said that if there were no Easter, there would be no reason for Christmas, and it's certainly true. At Christmas, we commemorate the birth of our Lord, but the occasion is meaningful only because of the great work He performed for us at Gethsemane.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The wise men knew, or at least had a sense of the magnitude of the moment, and so they traveled across deserts, mountains, plains, and sea. We can look to Him too. The star is still pointing to Him, westward leading, still proceeding, guiding us to its perfect Light.</span><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Lx35_DRIZ8g" width="480"></iframe>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/399-in-which-christ-is-born-and-marys.html">Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-59719685465306858492016-12-12T04:21:00.000-08:002016-12-12T04:21:36.338-08:00#399, in which Christ is born and Mary's calling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IEFKVa2U_13A2JBCy2LBfvpK2D0ZojYaWD8M3L_G4xkVXhFeMHx8fUN6i5-98VTOFGmbQxV7ntovEE9xr_ZBHS8QmTecoFEeFUrNzZXwi7VrhU921Cy7ScxVdeyBSi8aL7uyqQ/s1600/la+tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IEFKVa2U_13A2JBCy2LBfvpK2D0ZojYaWD8M3L_G4xkVXhFeMHx8fUN6i5-98VTOFGmbQxV7ntovEE9xr_ZBHS8QmTecoFEeFUrNzZXwi7VrhU921Cy7ScxVdeyBSi8aL7uyqQ/s320/la+tour.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today's song is "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabaella." I struggled with whether or not to include this one, because I've always personally felt it was a little silly, but several of you requested it, so I decided to write about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The song was originally not intended as a Christmas song, per se, even though the lyrics are about the manger scene, but rather as a lively dance number for French nobility. I never would have guessed that, but the quick tempo and the fact that the song is in 3/8 time certainly make more sense when viewed through that lens.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Before we get into the lyrics, let's consider the question many of you have probably wondered about as you've heard this song: Who are Jeanette and Isabella? It's tricky to know for sure, since much is lost to history, but the two women seem to be the subject of a painting by chiaroscuro artist (I knew all those art history classes in high school would come in useful someday) George de la Tour titled <i>The Newborn Christ</i>. Two milkmaids are holding the infant Jesus shortly after His birth. The origins of this song are at or before this time, so one led to the other, but I'm not entirely sure in which order.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In our song, Jeanette and Isabella are two young women who are summoned to the stable at the Savior's birth. They are to bring a torch for light and to announce His birth to the people of (presumably) Bethlehem. They do so, but in their excitement, they are a little too exuberant, leading others to shush them for fear of waking the tiny King.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br />It is wrong when the Child is sleeping</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is wrong to talk so loud</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Silence, all, as you gather around</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Lest your noise should waken Jesus</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hush! hush! see how fast He slumbers</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hush! hush! see how fast He sleeps!</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's a lesson there for us, if we care to look for it. The birth of the Savior was certainly a joyful occasion; countless generations had looked forward to it, and for some, it even marked <a href="https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/1.16-18?lang=eng#15">the commutation of certain death</a> at the hands of those who did not believe. Angels heralded His birth, and a bright new star appeared over Bethlehem. Yet for all the excitement of the moment, for all the happiness and glee and fervor, it was still a sacred thing, to be treated with reverence. The shepherds came to pay their respects to the newborn King by bowing and observing <a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/365-in-which-still-is-sung-in-evry.html">with wondering awe</a>. Jeanette and Isabella were a little noisier, and for that they were gently rebuked. "Softly to the little stable," we sing in the last verse, and I imagine they did so, a little quieter and a little more meekly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It's very easy for us to get caught up in the excitement of Christmas. We look forward to opening gifts, to watching fun movies, to laughing with our families and friends, and to drinking eggnog by the fire. (I am not convinced that anyone actually drinks eggnog.) It's tempting to allow ourselves to give in to the thrill of the occasion rather than the reverence of it. Christmas is a time for us to reflect on the birth of our Savior and on the holiness of that night. There's a lot to shout about, but we may want to take a moment and exercise a little temperance as we celebrate the season. Just as Jeanette and Isabella were told to "hush, hush" so as not to wake the sleeping baby, we too may want to take a moment to quietly ponder how "beautiful is the mother; ...beautiful is the Son" so as not to chase away the Spirit of the moment.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="344" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtDbBd8yh9U" width="459"></iframe><br />
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<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/398-in-which-stable-place-sufficed.html">In the Bleak Midwinter</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-1371036017993232252016-12-11T04:57:00.000-08:002016-12-11T04:57:37.925-08:00#398, in which a stable place sufficed<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Today's song is one I wasn't familiar with before you suggested it to me: "In the Bleak Midwinter." It's really beautiful, and if you haven't heard it before, go ahead and switch off Rudolph and Frosty and listen to this on loop all day instead.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xRobryliBLQ" width="560"></iframe> <span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I particularly like this video. The cathedral choir do a terrific job of singing the song, but there's something special about hearing the congregation join in. Everyone gets to praise the Lord together, no matter whether they have training, talent, practice, or not. (And that ties in neatly with the message of the song! What an amazing coincidence that surely wasn't planned in the slightest!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wrote about this several years ago, but this song is similar to "<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/364-in-which-israel-spreads-abroad.html">Joy to the World</a>" in that it addresses not only the Savior's first coming, but his second. We sing, "Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain; heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign." At His second coming, he will rule in power, and every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ. There will be no mistaking Him at that time. Yet, as we go on to sing, "in the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed the Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ." The Lord, the ruler and creator of the universe, the one who took upon Himself all of our sins so that we could live again, was born in a lowly stable, with shepherds and animals to herald Him.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Angels and archangels may have gathered there,<br /> <br />cherubim and seraphim thronged the air;<br /> <br />but his mother only, in her maiden bliss,<br /> <br />worshiped the beloved with a kiss.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The tender image of Mary, surrounded by hay and the gentle bleating of lambs, leaning down to kiss the little Lord on the head was enough to make it considerably dusty in my house this morning. (It did not help that in the video, the camera zooms in on a mother doing the same thing for her son.) He came in humility as an example of humility to all of us. He showed us in every footstep, every action, what manner of men we ought to be. We follow His example, and in so doing, we can give Him our heart.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The last verse of the song asks and answers the same question as we encountered yesterday in "<a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a>": What can I give Him, poor as I am? We can give Him the same thing we could if we were a poor child, or a shepherd, or a wise man, or anyone else. We can give Him our will, our heart, and everything we have and are. To paraphrase, what we can we give Him, give our heart.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Enjoy your Sabbath, friends.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u>Previously in this series</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2016/12/397-in-which-we-play-our-best-for-him.html">Little Drummer Boy</a></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-40259928533139156822016-12-10T09:23:00.003-08:002016-12-10T09:23:43.013-08:00#397, in which we play our best for Him<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I wrote about the fourteen Christmas hymns in the LDS hymnal three years ago. If you're interested in reading them again, you can find the full list <a href="http://blogtimistic.blogspot.com/2013/12/376-in-which-god-is-not-dead-nor-doth.html">here</a>; if not, you may want to stop reading here and for the next thirteen posts, because I'm going to write about fourteen more Christmas songs, only this time, songs outside of the hymnal. Several of you helped provide suggestions, some I'd thought of, some I hadn't, and some I'd never even heard of before.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We start with "Little Drummer Boy," a song that took me quite a while to warm up to. I like singing and hearing about baby Jesus, but the "pa rum pum pum pum"s always felt a little incongruous with the stillness and reverence I always pictured in the stable. It took my finding a softer version to get me to change my mind.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/crV29UGRSFw" width="560"></iframe>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">(This will probably not be the last time Sufjan Stevens appears in these posts.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The story of the drummer boy is not strictly doctrinal, but it tells of the wise men going to visit the Christ child and summoning a young boy to come with them.</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Come they told me</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A newborn King to see</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our finest gifts we bring</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">To lay before the King</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So to honor Him</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When we come</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's no telling why they felt they needed to bring a child, or how this child fell in with the magi, of all people, but he joins them. The song doesn't say, but I get the sense this young man felt out of place among prominent and powerful men with elegant gifts. The phrase "our finest gifts to bring" may have made him feel uneasy. What could he offer to a King that would compare with gold, frankincense, or myrrh? Why would his little drum be honored against such mighty gifts? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet also, I get the sense that despite his fear, he wanted to see the little Lord in the manger. He probably didn't know exactly who the baby was (did the shepherds? did the animals?), but he may have felt that this was a special occasion. He may even, as we see, have felt a certain kinship with His humble origins.</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Little baby</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am a poor boy too</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I have no gift to bring</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">That's fit to give our King</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Shall I play for you</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">On my drum</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This boy had little to offer, but what little he had, he freely gave. The wise men, in all their opulence and splendor, did the same. That's all we are asked of our Lord, each of us. He asks for our hearts, all of them. He asks for our will, all of it. He asks for us to be His, all of us. Just as the Lord gave all that He had on our behalf, we are asked to give all that we are to Him. It doesn't matter if you have gold, frankincense, myrrh, or a drum to offer. The request is the same to each of us: all that we have, and all that we are.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There's not much to tell with the song (fully fifty percent of the lyrics are either "pa," "rum," or "pum"), but the simple message is by no means not a powerful one.</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Mary nodded</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The lamb and ox kept time</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I played my drum for him</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I played my best for him</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Then He smiled at me</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Me and my drum</span></blockquote>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-75382872594241418102016-02-22T20:01:00.004-08:002016-02-22T20:01:58.131-08:00#396, in which we take a short break<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I've been pretty busy at work recently, but not in a way that has kept me from being at home, which is nice. We've had a lot of new people start, which means that with all of my two years and change of experience, I'm the one people turn to with questions. I'm also formally charged with training several of these new people, so that keeps me pretty busy. Busy isn't all bad, of course. Better to be busy and trusted than, well, idle and unreliable, I guess.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Edie is two and a half, and she's really interesting. She's gotten really good at learning and repeating words, to the point where she routinely surprises me by saying words I had no idea she knew. Some are innocuous, like "rock," "rain," and even "poppies," but some are hilarious, like "hi scum." She's very fond of "uh-oh" and "oh no," but she only seems to understand that it's a thing one says when things fall, not that it's connected to accidents. She loves to scatter things all over the ground, look up at us, and say, "uh oh!" No, little girl, that wasn't an accident. You did that.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The weather here is really bizarre. It was in the teens and icy last week, and then it got up to the upper 60s in the same week. Sudden temperature shifts like that tend to bring strong winds, so while the warm weather is pleasant, the tornadoes, well, aren't.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My parents are coming to visit us next month. They'd actually come to visit Tennessee once before we got here, so they might actually know more about Nashville than we do. Still, we know more about this tiny town that we live in. We'll show them places like, um, the downtown and the tiny cafes and diners here. And the barbecue pit! Okay, so there's some interesting stuff in this town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I listened to <i>Now! 49</i> yesterday. You should not. "Royals" is by far the best song on the album. Nearly everything else is pure garbage. Stay far, far away.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-6937826569774681612016-02-15T12:34:00.002-08:002016-02-15T12:34:55.405-08:00#385, in which we are introduced to synthpop<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippCIXkezyaScOKz_ZcadNNIh2DI1CXel0sed3jwLKCXlmr1PTnYONAnPI-v62-H-8-OD8Xk4i9Lx6hU-iBbDlpTI8Go-b1sR88865b6z4sPhZIyt5720gi9An2L3J8djBTEj8iw/s1600/Now_44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippCIXkezyaScOKz_ZcadNNIh2DI1CXel0sed3jwLKCXlmr1PTnYONAnPI-v62-H-8-OD8Xk4i9Lx6hU-iBbDlpTI8Go-b1sR88865b6z4sPhZIyt5720gi9An2L3J8djBTEj8iw/s320/Now_44.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I promised you I'd write two of these today, and here I am, delivering. And utterly squandering my day off, too! You're welcome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This album started off like many of the earlier and more reprehensible collections I've listened to, like the awful "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" from P!nk and the truly, truly rancid "Whistle" from Flo Rida, which could not possibly be a more transparent ode to fellatio if it tried. (If you haven't heard this song before, please, I beg of you, DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, EVEN TO SAVE THE LIFE OF A LOVED ONE, LISTEN TO THIS SONG.) I cringed and gritted my teeth, expecting much more of the same. It would have been grating and an affront to nature, but at least it would have given me something interesting to write about.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then we got "Gangnam Style," and you may not believe this, but today was actually my first time listening to the song in its entirety. (Still haven't seen the music video.) This song could also be an ode to fellatio, but I certainly wouldn't know, not being a Korean speaker myself. (Wikipedia assures me that the song is about the lifestyle of residents of the Gangnam District of Seoul, which, to my knowledge, is not especially renowned for womanizing behavior.) This song is utterly infectious. It's absolutely perfect for what these compilations are trying to be. By the end of the song, I'd forgotten all about the trash from the first two songs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then, AND THEN, we entered an hour and a half of pure synthpop. For those unfamiliar with the genre, imagine a song that was written to play over the closing credits of any tween-targeted Disney Channel show and you're pretty close. We got Owl City, Maroon 5, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, and even Nicki Minaj got in on the action. I don't especially mind synthpop, personally, but that's not to say that I'm a huge fan, and it's certainly not to say that I was hoping for nearly a dozen straight songs of it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And yet, I sort of like the idea of going completely overboard with one genre for one of these albums. They all sort of blend together for me, being one huge indistinguishable blur of pop, so differentiating them by a popular genre is pretty clever. This isn't just <i>Now! 44</i>, the latest in a long line of pop collections anymore, it's the synthpop <i>Now! </i>album. You instantly know the one we're talking about now. They could produce similar entries for emo, indie folk, girlpop, boy bands, you name it. I know that I, personally, would get a huge kick out of <i>Now! That's What I Call Thrash Rock</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In summary, if you're interested in synthpop, you should give the album a listen. If you're not, you should probably avoid it. And if you're just looking to get a taste of the album, just give Gangnam Style a play. And if, for whatever unfathomable reason, you're wondering if you should listen to "Whistle," please seek professional counseling.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-68273322758874668012016-02-15T05:17:00.000-08:002016-02-15T05:17:30.535-08:00#384, in which normalcy of a sort is restored<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I missed writing to you last week, but let it be known that I still listened to my album. I'll do my best to write two for you today as a penance.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week's album is <i>Now! 53</i>, which means it was released just about a year ago. This is pop horror that is still fresh in our minds. The compilation kicks off with "Uptown Funk," which I'll admit is nothing if not catchy and danceable. It's also omnipresent and, to put it charitably, possessive toward women, so it's just about the perfect pick for an album like this. We get Meghan Trainor's "Lips are Movin" after that, which is an apt answer. It's catchy, danceable, and omnipresent, but instead of celebrating womanizing, it decries it. So everything's turned out a wash so far!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And then, you know, the rest of the album begins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We get Ariana Grande, One Direction, Selena Gomez, Iggy Azalea, and Charli XCX in the span of eight tracks. These acts are pretty much the quintessence of these compilations, and are also pretty much why I dreaded having to listen to them in the first place. I was not disappointed, in that I was completely disappointed by their schlockiness. (Autocorrect suggests "cockiness" instead.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The B-side of these albums usually transitions to a quieter, mellower sound, which I typically enjoy more. There was a Coldplay track ("A Sky Full of Stars") on there, which I was looking forward to a bit. I'm no great fan of Coldplay, but I recognize that they have talent and can, at the very least, create songs that are unobjectionable, something that the rest of these acts have trouble with. Those of you who have heard this song are probably laughing to yourself right now, but Coldplay managed to completely let me down in this regard. "A Sky Full of Stars" sounds like a typical Coldplay song that a producer decided to infuse with a drum machine and club beats. It doesn't work. It's somehow much worse than a typical club song in that you know what it could have been. I was very, very disappointed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In summary, do not listen to this album if you have the means not to. If you want to get the sense of the sound of the album, listen to "Uptown Funk," then listen to "Lips are Movin," then smash your stereo, computer, or iPod with hammers.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-19417986484885962762016-02-06T11:22:00.001-08:002016-02-06T11:22:37.505-08:00#383, in which an already difficult task becomes more so<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I knew what I was getting myself into when I started listening to these albums. I expected them to be bad, even terrible. I expected to hate every minute of this. And I knew that if I didn't hold myself accountable to you faceless masses, I'd never go through with listening to all of this.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What I didn't count on, though, was the fact that since most of this music is just similar-sounding dreck, I would run out of interesting things to say very quickly. And I have.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I listened to <i>Now! 12</i> a week ago, and I've been trying to think of anything to say about it that I haven't already said about the other six I've listened to. And short of the fact that I laughed out loud when I heard Télépopmusik's "Breathe" come on, I really haven't got anything new to say. It's pretty much just thumping club music for the A-side, like the last few have been, and it's quieter acoustic girl pop on the B-side. And they generally save something truly abhorrent for the last song, which in this case is "When I'm Gone," by 3 Doors Down.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These are not good albums, and I'm really not excited to look at my randomized list and see that <i>Now! 53</i> is up next. The more recent the album, the worse it is, and a quick look over the tracklist (Bruno Mars! Maroon 5! One Direction! Iggy Azalea!) makes me shudder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you've come here for a recommendation, here it is: do not buy, do not listen, do not expend any amount of mental energy considering this music in any way, and do not fear, for the cold black embrace of death awaits us all.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-7335939290878852162016-01-29T18:38:00.001-08:002016-01-29T18:38:55.865-08:00#382, in which a cardinal rule is violated<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I knew they couldn't all be as good as <i>Now! 5</i>, but I had hoped that many of these compilations would be at least somewhat listenable. I'm no great fan of pop, but if nothing else, I expected that these songs would be catchy and toe-tapping, if reprehensible on some level.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In <i>Now! 20</i>, we find a collection of songs that don't even reach that level. Nearly every moment of this album is utterly forgettable, and if a compilation of pop music isn't even fun to listen to, what's the point?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are big names on this album, like Backstreet Boys, Ciara, Destiny's Child, Weezer, Fall Out Boy, Franz Ferdinand, and the like, but for the most part, none of the songs particularly stood out. They all sort of blended together into one unremarkable hum to me, and if I'm having a hard time telling apart Destiny's Child and Weezer, the music is pretty generic indeed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Normally I have a lot to say about these albums, whether how much I loved or hated the music, but the fact that I'm four short paragraphs in and already tapped out I think is indicative of just how dull this album is, so I'll leave you with this: the album kicks off with "Don't Phunk With My Heart," and as repellent a song as I think that is, I wish the rest of the album had been more like it so that I'd at least have something to write about.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My recommendation: don't buy this album, and don't stream it, either. There are so many better ways you could spend 90 minutes of your time, like doing charity work or nailing your hand to a wall. Anything would be more interesting than this.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-57008904112354035342016-01-21T19:03:00.000-08:002016-01-21T19:03:01.350-08:00#381, in which we have a new champion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWvC4Rl7dFY5yjLuBS3wv7ODvyHZlQGolJgj9CYzVDTDtGbf-ZV9q8eTGyZuOTSmyOJhpDxkRpES3co-YkBWtz9YkS8rUVlGNjXQ48NhWuCLELs9x0CrmUb4P17bjK-MZW0BrXQ/s1600/now_5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWvC4Rl7dFY5yjLuBS3wv7ODvyHZlQGolJgj9CYzVDTDtGbf-ZV9q8eTGyZuOTSmyOJhpDxkRpES3co-YkBWtz9YkS8rUVlGNjXQ48NhWuCLELs9x0CrmUb4P17bjK-MZW0BrXQ/s1600/now_5.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I started this project with the expectation that these compilations would all be, at best, wretched, and at worst, literally painful to listen to. I went into the project with a full understanding of that because I care about you, the reader.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The first album I listened to was bad, but the second wasn't too terrible. This third one, though?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You guys, this third album is very close to pure freebased pop perfection.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I haven't done this yet, but I want to give you a complete listing of the tracks on this album:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"It's Gonna Be Me," *NSYNC</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Give Me Just One Night (Una Noche)," 98 Degrees</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Jumpin' Jumpin'," Destiny's Child</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Don't Think I'm Not," Kandi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"I Think I'm in Love with You," Jessica Simpson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Faded," soulDecision</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Shake It Fast," Mystikal</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Case of the Ex," Mya</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Aaron's Party (Come Get It)," Aaron Carter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Lucky," Britney Spears</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely," Backstreet Boys</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Incomplete," Sisqo</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"I Wanna Be with You," Mandy Moore</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Doesn't Really Matter," Janet Jackson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Back Here," BBMak</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Absolutely (Story of a Girl)," Nine Days</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Kryptonite," 3 Doors Down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"Wonderful," Everclear</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"It's My Life," Bon Jovi</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This album is an absolutely flawless encapsulation of what pop music sounded like in 2000. Chalk it up to my sense of nostalgia (I was 17 when this album came out), chalk it up to my pure and unabashed love of boy bands, but I absolutely love all of this. Make no mistake: these songs are truly awful. But they're so awful that they come back around the other side. They're bad in a <i>Plan 9 From Outer Space</i> sort of way rather than a <i>Manos: The Hands of Fate</i> sort of way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Look at that lineup again. We get <i>all three</i> of the major boy bands from the late '90s, and we get HUGE songs from all three of them. We get early Destiny's Child crushing it with "Jumpin' Jumpin'," we get strong contributions from both Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson, we get some staples of terrible alt-rock with "Story of a Girl," "Kryptonite," and "Wonderful," and we get a spectacularly hilarious radio edit of Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And I feel confident in saying that all of these songs pale in comparison to the bright sun in the center of this dazzling array of pop planets that is AARON CARTER. This song is exactly what you would expect if you gave an 11 year-old a Casio synthesizer piano and asked him to rap about middle school, then turned that rap over to a producer to remaster and put on the radio. (Yes, I am aware that Aaron Carter was actually 12 when this album came out. My point stands.) He raps about throwing a party when his parents are out on a date. He raps about throwing your hands in the air. He refers to himself in the third person. And at the end of the song, HIS PARENTS COME HOME AND HE GETS GROUNDED. This song is spectacular in its awfulness. It is truly brilliant. I am convinced that the only reason this song was not digitized and placed on the Voyager Golden Record was that it had not yet been recorded when the probe was launched. If we had only been willing to wait 21 years, we, as a human race, would have unanimously agreed that this should be the song that would represent our species to alien life forms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When you listen to this album, you'll be shaking your head and remembering how horrible early 2000s pop was, but you'll have a smile on your face the whole time. You will thank yourself, and you'll do it while shaking your hips to songs like "Lucky" and "I Wanna Be with You."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I don't expect this will be a recommendation I can make often this year, but you should absolutely listen to this album in its entirety at your earliest convenience. There's a reason this album went <i>quadruple platinum</i> and was the best-selling of the series. It's probably difficult to find, because who would sell the album back, but if you have the opportunity, I highly recommend purchasing this compilation. You will not regret it.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-68916350113655544512016-01-16T10:18:00.001-08:002016-01-16T10:18:53.599-08:00#380, in which a resolution has not been forgotten<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">You may think that I've already quit on my resolution, or that I've forgotten, or that for whatever reason, this resolution has fallen by the wayside. Don't you worry, though. The only reason I didn't post anything last week was because I got really quite sick and wasn't able to listen to much of anything, let alone write about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This week, I listened to <i>NOW! 15</i>, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with this one. <i>32</i> was club music nearly the whole way through, but this had a nicer mix of various genres that only rarely made me want to turn off the music and hurl my computer through the window in disgust. (Three of the last four tracks are by blink-182, Good Charlotte, and Fuel, so, you know.) It's toe-tapping, infectious pop, and really, that's exactly what these albums should be in my mind. You get alt-rock, hip-hop, girl pop, and even a bit of punk, so there's something for everyone here. Unless you're a big fan of club music, in which case, may I recommend <i>32</i> to you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The album starts with "It's My Life" by No Doubt, which is a perfect encapsulation of what this project should be. It's enjoyable, catchy, and fun, while not being particularly challenging. It's the musical equivalent of cotton candy. Nothing too tricky about it. "Toxic" is more or less the same thing, although your personal mileage may vary with this one because of the screechy hook. This music should make you want to get up and shake around, and it should stick in your head through the day without making you want to claw your brains out. (Again, your personal mileage with Britney Spears may vary.) Ludacris' "Stand Up" and Chingy's "Holidae In" are similar, but for hip-hop. You'll want to move, you'll want to shake, and you'll feel pretty okay about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Yes, this album has a Black Eyed Peas song on it. No, I don't particularly want to dwell on it. Not every song in this project can be a winner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">About halfway through the album, the tone switches from groovy pop to mellower girl pop-type music, for lack of a better term for it. We switch from Nick Cannon and Eamon to Jessica Simpson, Norah Jones, and Sheryl Crow. It's all nice, but the switch is a little jarring. I'm not sure what formula, if any, they used to determine which songs would be included on the album, but it sort of feels like they had to put these songs on them, so they just jammed them in as best as they could. Again, they're lovely, but when the song that precedes them is "Shorty DooWop," it makes for some strange juxtaposition.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ideally, they would have ended the album with Sheryl Crow, but as I mentioned, they went on and included some truly dire punk pop. I am no great fan of blink-182 or of Good Charlotte, so while I tried not to let my personal biases color my experience with the album, I couldn't help but suffer through the last few tracks. They are not good, and by the time I had slogged through them, I was rewarded with Five for Fighting's "100 Years," which sort of felt like being hit with tire irons for fifteen minutes only to be rewarded with five minutes of a MasterCard commercial.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This album isn't great, by any stretch of the imagination, but for what it is, it's pretty okay. I don't know that I'd recommend purchasing it, but if you're looking for some music to put on while you're cleaning the house to give you a bit of energy, this is a pretty solid choice.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-63238867788676097352016-01-01T18:46:00.001-08:002016-01-01T18:48:13.435-08:00#379, in which a very stupid resolution is made<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQWOmra5Yl8icz4CPT-mpOtpiQiQGOdTKnjTr8iGpgncWsYuzMRmG3YX80Fmm1Ty_hY52YPC8GKyAEHmJOxmxJfZqsrxwT3jP9750Ow6TuPPsbKP_JK_Dmgrn-N_7aVGGu_rq9g/s1600/Now_32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmQWOmra5Yl8icz4CPT-mpOtpiQiQGOdTKnjTr8iGpgncWsYuzMRmG3YX80Fmm1Ty_hY52YPC8GKyAEHmJOxmxJfZqsrxwT3jP9750Ow6TuPPsbKP_JK_Dmgrn-N_7aVGGu_rq9g/s320/Now_32.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the last several years, I've made one serious and one stupid resolution for the new year. The stupid resolution usually ends up being something entertaining that doesn't feel like a chore to do, which helps me to stay focused on my real resolution. And it's worked for the last three years! I've actually maintained focus and done what I intended to do.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For whatever reason, though, I had a hard time coming up with a good stupid resolution for this year. That's not to say that some of you out there weren't forthcoming with resolutions:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealSamOrme">@TheRealSamOrme</a> Start w/ lowest dose nicotine patch. Keep bumping the strength until you can switch to actual cigarettes. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/2PacksADayIn2016?src=hash">#2PacksADayIn2016</a></div>
— David Fletcher (@imdavidfletcher) <a href="https://twitter.com/imdavidfletcher/status/682396335576903680">December 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But finally, with about six hours to go in 2015, I figured it out:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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i will listen to and review for you, each week, one of the now that's what i call music compilations</div>
— Sam Orme (@TheRealSamOrme) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealSamOrme/status/682709310359625728">December 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's stupid, yet measurable, and there are 56 of these compilation albums out there, so it works out well to do about one of these a week. I'm not sure what I'll do when three or four more of these are inevitably released this year. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">This morning, I randomized the list of albums and came up with <i>Now! 32</i>. I pulled it up on Spotify and started listening.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let me be perfectly frank before we start, though. I'm not a fan of 2000's and 2010's-era pop, and even less of a fan of club music in general. I made this resolution knowing that I would probably hate most of the music on these albums. I'm going to try not to let my personal biases interfere with reviewing the albums.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But oh my goodness, oh my sweet heavenly dogs, friends, this is not a good album. It's very, very heavy on autotune. Some autotune is often needed, and overdoing it a little can be interesting, but when it's prevalent through several songs in a row, it wears thin. (Yes, I'm talking about you here, Jason Derulo. "Whatcha Say" would be about thirty seconds long if you took out the autotuned sections.) The same bumping and thumping club chords dominate nearly every song, and after a while, the songs seem to blend together. It doesn't help that I'm not that familiar with artists like Lady Gaga, Li'l Wayne, and Pitbull, which don't sound that different to me, but they all blurred into one sound to my ears. (This is by choice, incidentally. Offers to help familiarize me with these acts are unsolicitied and unappreciated.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's not just the club sound of the music that's prevalent, either. Several of the songs focused on what I'll call a club mentality toward women. The songs tend to be either men singing about objectifying and abusing women or women singing about being objects. Mariah Carey's "Obsessed" and David Guetta & Akon's "Sexy Chick" are notable offenders, featuring lyrics like "I'm trying to find the words to describe this girl without being disrespectful/damn girl/damn who's a sexy bitch". I cringed more than once listening to these songs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But that's not to say that the album is terrible all the way through. This was my first time listening to many of these artists, and I was pleasantly surprised with a couple of them. Shakira's "She Wolf" has a great pseudo-disco beat, is largely free of autotune, and even has non-objectifying lyrics. I'd willingly listen to it again, something I can't say about many of these other songs. I'm not particularly familiar with Drake, except for the fact that he's virtually omnipresent in society lately, but I had a difficult time finding a reason to dislike "Best I Ever Had." I'm not a huge fan of slow jam-style R&B, but this was solid.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But here's the real head-scratcher in this collection: the second-to-last track on the album is "Only You Can Love Me This Way," by Keith Urban. Almost every song on the album is noxious <i>un-tss un-tss</i> style club music to this point, and then we're left to conclude with a soulful country ballad. It's nice, though I'm not a fan of pop country, but it feels weirdly out of place. All I can think of is that either the <i>Now!</i> people have criteria that they use to determine which songs make the cut and that they were forced to include this song, or perhaps they wanted to diversify their audience at least a little and threw in this token country song. Either way, it just doesn't quite fit.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My recommendation is not to purchase or even listen to this album, but your mileage may vary.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-66356197192278339982015-11-23T19:27:00.001-08:002015-11-23T19:27:36.508-08:00#378, in which enough is enough<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I consider myself to be pretty politically aware, if not especially politically active. I read blogs, follow the news, listen to the radio, and have at least a solid understanding of the events of the day. When things happen and leaders make decisions I don't agree with, I tend to roll my eyes, shrug my shoulders, and forget about it. What am I going to do, right? I'm only one person, after all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I figured the shooting at Umpqua Community College was going to be something else like that. We heard the President issue another call to action, we heard Congress decry him for politicizing a tragedy, and that seemed to be that. Only something stuck with me a little more this time. I'm not sure if it was the fact that Roseburg was so much closer to home than other shootings have been, or if it was just the straw that broke the camel's back, but I was upset, and I wanted to do something about it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I decided to write my congressmen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
just wrote my congressmen about the desperate need for gun control legislation, and will do so weekly until we get some</div>
— Orme of Plenty (@TheRealSamOrme) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealSamOrme/status/649724778467717121">October 1, 2015</a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I live north of Nashville, TN, so I knew this was going to be an uphill battle. My representative and both of my senators are strongly pro-gun rights, so just saying "we need to fix this" wasn't going to get me anywhere. So I did my best to support my letters with facts. I told them that a little over 10,000 Americans die every year as a result of gun homicides, good for about 35 per day. I told them that of those 10,000 people, a little less than 4% of them die in mass shootings like the one in Roseburg. I knew they were going to tell me that they supported mental health reform, since shooters tend to turn out to be mentally ill in those sorts of cases. Solving mental health problems is great, but if that only prevents 4% of our gun deaths, then we're hardly even scratching the surface of the problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I told them that the majority of gun homicides are the result of arguments. The problem isn't that crazy people are getting guns, it's that angry people already have them. I admitted that legislating a kinder, gentler culture is probably beyond the scope of what they can do, but they could certainly find a way to restrict access to guns so that they aren't the easiest and most readily accessible solution to a fight. I put together a letter that detailed all of this, and I sent it to Representative Diane Black, Senator Bob Corker, and Senator Lamar Alexander, all Republicans of Tennessee.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I received answers from all three of them within two weeks. I'll quote Sen. Alexander's letter here, but understand that all three were virtually identical:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Sam,<br />
<br />
Thank you for sharing your feelings regarding gun violence. I am saddened by the tragic and senseless attack at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. My thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s families, loved ones, and the Roseburg community.
<br />
<br />
As we learn more about these tragic shootings across the country, I think we must look closely at the behavior of isolated young men who develop an obsession with violence and often suffer from mental health issues. We should ask the leaders of the entertainment industry whether they would want their children--or those who might harm their children--to watch the increasingly violent video games and movies that they pour into our culture. This is not the only cause of violence in our society but it is one important cause. The problem is not with the gun but with the person pulling the trigger.
<br />
<br />
On June 29, 2015, I introduced the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, which would reauthorize and improve programs dealing with awareness, prevention, and early identification of mental health problems. I also introduced similar legislation last Congress, which was passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.The legislation was later approved as an amendment by the full Senate with 95 votes but did not become law. I will continue to work on this issue because it is an important step in responding to the cause of these disturbing incidents of mass violence.
<br />
<br />
People with good mental health are not causing these incidents, so if we can find ways to diagnose and treat people with mental health issues, that will be an actual solution to the problem. These are terrible events for our nation and we must find appropriate ways to respond. I’m grateful you’ve shared your reactions with me and will keep them in mind as we move forward.
<br />
<br />
Sincerely,
<br />
<br />
<span class="il">Lamar</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As I expected, all three of them told me what a great job they have been doing solving mental health problems. I was a little disappointed that I'd gone to the trouble of addressing that concern first and that all three of them chose to ignore what I'd written, but I wasn't deterred. I promised I would write letters weekly until I saw a substantive change, which in my mind is either me changing their mind or them changing mine.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Weeks went on. I only got the one response from Rep. Black and Sen. Corker. I received three more letters from Sen. Alexander, though (or, more accurately, one of his aides, no doubt). Last week, in the wake of the Paris attacks, I wrote a letter telling him, well, pretty much this:</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
not to belittle what's happened, but the attacks in paris represent about three days' worth of gun homicides in america (35 people per day)</div>
— Orme of Plenty (@TheRealSamOrme) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealSamOrme/status/665359908955488257">November 14, 2015</a></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I told them that attacks like the one we saw in Paris are horrifying and sensational, but that here in the United States, we would outstrip that death toll in about half a week. I hoped that would spur them to action, or at least give them a sense the magnitude of the problem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Senator Alexander, however, saw only the words "Paris attacks" and chose to respond with the following.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Mr. Orme:
<br />
<br />
Thanks very much for getting in touch with me and letting me know what’s on your mind regarding the terrorist attacks in Paris and the Syrian refugee crisis. The horrific and evil acts in Paris were a reminder of the dangerous world in which we live. Americans stand with the people of France against this outrage. Our prayers are with the families of all those hurt by these murderers.
<br />
<br />
Five years of incessant fighting between President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces, U.S.-backed opposition forces and the insurgent terrorist group, the Islamist State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), has driven more than 4 million innocent Syrians into neighboring countries in search of humanitarian assistance.
<br />
<br />
In response to the Syrian refugee crisis, the Obama administration announced that they will increase the total number of refugees allowed into the United States each year. For 2015, President Obama set the limit of refugees allowed into the United States at 70,000, including 1,200 refugees from Syria. On September 20, 2015, the Obama administration announced that next year the United States will allow 85,000 total refugees, including 10,000 refugees from Syria.
<br />
<br />
On November 16, 2015, Governor Haslam asked the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to suspend the placement of refugees in Tennessee until states can participate in the vetting process. I believe the federal government should respect the wishes of states in placing refugees. But the real focus should be for the United States to work with Europe and our allies to defeat ISIS and stabilize Syria so millions of Syrians won’t have to leave their homes.
<br />
<br />
As the United States allows refugees from the Syrian conflict to enter our country, we must ensure militants don’t slip in by impersonating refugees fleeing persecution. We cannot afford for the administration to take any shortcuts with our refugee process that could jeopardize American lives.
<br />
<br />
I’m grateful you took the time to voice your concerns about balancing national security and protecting human rights, and I’ll be sure to keep your comments in mind as these issues are discussed and debated in Washington and in Tennessee.
<br />
<br />
Sincerely,
<br />
<br />
<span class="il">Lamar</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I am not making this up. This is an actual response I received from a sitting Senator to an email about gun violence. I pointed out that 35 people a day die from gun homicides in the United States, and he answered by telling me that he was fighting to keep Syrian refugees out of Tennessee. Setting aside my feelings on Syrian refugees (I think it's despicable to fight to keep them out; the attackers in Paris were neither Syrian nor refugees), I was floored to see that not only was he not reading what I was writing, but he was deliberately misinterpreting what I had written and was just shoehorning a completely unrelated issue into his response.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So I wrote to him again, and I don't mind telling you that I was much less civil this time. I used words like "despicable" and "cowardly" to describe his actions. I told him how displeased I was that he very clearly was not paying attention to what this constituent felt and took the time to research and write to him about <i>eight times</i>. (It will be nine this week.) I understand that I'm almost certainly in the minority on this issue here in deep red rural Tennessee, but willfully misinterpreting my complaint and call to action seemed a little beyond the pale to me.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Guess what? The Senator wrote back to me, less than 24 hours later!</span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Mr. Orme:
<br />
<br />
Thank you for sharing your feelings regarding gun violence. I responded to your letter about the tragic shootings in Paris with my thoughts and concerns regarding that developing situation. I am always happy to hear from Tennesseans on the important issues facing our country.
<br />
<br />
As we learn more about these tragic shootings across the country, I think we must look closely at the behavior of isolated young men who develop an obsession with violence and often suffer from mental health issues. We should ask the leaders of the entertainment industry whether they would want their children--or those who might harm their children--to watch the increasingly violent video games and movies that they pour into our culture. This is not the only cause of violence in our society but it is one important cause. The problem is not with the gun but with the person pulling the trigger.
<br />
<br />
On June 29, 2015, I introduced the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, which would reauthorize and improve programs dealing with awareness, prevention, and early identification of mental health problems. I also introduced similar legislation last Congress, which was passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The legislation was later approved as an amendment by the full Senate with 95 votes but did not become law. I will continue to work on this issue because it is an important step in responding to the cause of these disturbing incidents of mass violence.
<br />
<br />
People with good mental health are not causing these incidents, so if we can find ways to diagnose and treat people with mental health issues, that will be an actual solution to the problem. These are terrible events for our nation and we must find appropriate ways to respond. I’m grateful you’ve shared your reactions with me and will keep them in mind as we move forward.
<br />
<br />
Sincerely,
<br />
<br />
Lamar</blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Take a good, close look. That's right: <i>it's nearly identical to the first letter that I received</i>. The last <i>four</i> paragraphs are word-for-word the same as the first letter that I got, and the first one is only slightly changed to be about Paris instead of about Roseburg.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I get that he probably receives a lot of letters about a lot of issues, and that he certainly can't read them all himself. And I get that it's worth his time to search for key words to help him answer these emails more quickly and accurately. But this is the eighth time that I've written to him about the same issue, and it's absolutely galling to me that he seems to be intentionally misunderstanding me. This is, to me, more insulting than what I've heard from Rep. Black and Sen. Corker, which is to say, one token letter about their efforts to help the state of mental health care in the United States, and then seven weeks of silence.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">But I told you that I had received four letters from Sen. Alexander, and so I have. After about a month of writing, I got this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Mr. Orme:
<br />
<br />
Thanks for getting in touch with me.
<br />
<br />
I’m glad you received my response to your comments on gun violence. Although in many cases I have taken a position on an issue long before a vote, I pride myself on being open to new ideas and arguments. Even in cases where we may disagree on issues, I do weigh carefully the opinions of Tennesseans on both sides of an issue before casting a vote in the Senate. Your comments help me to know where the people of Tennessee stand on this issue, and they are very helpful to me in making decisions.
<br />
<br />
I’m glad you’ve taken the time to respond to my letter with additional information and questions, and I’ll be sure to keep these in mind as I continue to consider this issue.
<br />
<br />
Sincerely,
<br />
<br />
<span class="il">Lamar</span></blockquote>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The other emails were signed with some variation of "LA/ld," indicating that while he was signing his name to the email, it was actually written by an aide. There was no such tag at the end of this one, so perhaps he wrote it himself? If so, then that means the one email he wrote himself to me, the one time he took the trouble to tell me what he, personally, thought and felt on the issue, he effectively told me, "Eh, I've already made up my mind on this, but thanks anyway."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This after I told him about how many people are dying daily in this country from handguns. This after I told him that it's very clearly not exclusively crazy people pulling the trigger. This after I warned him about the cost of militarizing the police, and the danger of a culture in which people feel that they have to carry a weapon everywhere they go in order to feel safe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, if I'm reading correctly, Sen. Alexander has already made up his mind on the issue, and he feels that 35 handgun deaths daily are an acceptable cost to pay, but he's glad that I've taken the time to respond with additional information and questions.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I've had it, and what's even more frustrating is that despite my efforts, I feel like I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not getting through to my Congressmen, who are either ignoring me or making a mockery of my letters and opinions. So here I am, writing in an effort to shame them publicly so that maybe, just maybe, they'll answer me seriously. Maybe it will work. Maybe it won't. After all, I'm only one man.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I end every one of my letters with the phrase "I will continue to write until I see substantive action." Rep. Black and Sen. Corker seem content to wait me out. Sen. Alexander seems content to insult me into giving up. But I promised myself and my 30 or so non-pornbot Twitter followers that I would write every week until we got some sort of worthwhile gun control legislation. We're not there yet. So yes, Congressmen. I will continue to write.</span><br />
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17428788.post-22184868706096517092014-10-08T20:00:00.001-07:002014-10-08T20:00:16.286-07:00#377, in which succession is considered to excess<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Listening to General Conference this last weekend (which was fantastic, <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2014/10?lang=eng">and available in full online</a>, and you should go back and read or re-read it all) got me thinking about the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The most recent addition to the quorum was Neal L. Andersen, who replaced Joseph B. Wirthlin upon his death. That made me stop and wonder: who did Elder Wirthlin replace? I did a little digging and found that he replaced President Spencer W. Kimball.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I started to imagine the quorum as a table surrounded by fifteen chairs (twelve members of the quorum plus the three members of the First Presidency, who are also Apostles). When one member of the quorum leaves, his chair is moved to the back of the line of seniority, and someone takes his place. It's the same chair, though, in this scenario. You could imagine that Elder Andersen moved into Elder Wirthlin's office after it was vacated. So what if each man who sat in that chair, or worked out of that office, carved his name in it? What would those lists look like of who sat in each chair over the years?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It's a little trickier than you'd think, as it turns out. The quorum began with twelve members, but the practice of replacing members was much more fluid in the early days of the Church, and the practice of having three members of the quorum (again, for a total of fifteen) serve in the First Presidency didn't really gain steam until the early 1900s, so getting an exact sense of who is taking which seat and which seats are empty for the first sixty years or so was challenging. But that's no reason to back down, right?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We start with the original twelve members of the quorum, in order of seniority. Let's number each of their chairs around the table (or offices at Church HQ, if you'd prefer):</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1. Thomas B. Marsh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">2. David W. Patten</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3. Brigham Young</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4. Heber C. Kimball</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5. Orson Hyde</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">6. William E. McLellin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7. Parley P. Pratt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">8. Luke S. Johnson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">9. William Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10. Orson Pratt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">11. John F. Boynton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">12. Lyman E. Johnson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Those are the twelve chairs we'll be carving names into. (The remaining three chairs come up a few years later, shortly after the death of Joseph Smith.) (You'll notice Joseph Smith's name doesn't appear on any of these chairs; he was never properly a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.) I'll spare you the chronology of men moving in and out of these seats, but just list below each seat's history. To me, at least, it's really interesting to see which seats had many occupants and which had few, as well as the relative prominence of each seat's occupants. Take a look:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 1</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thomas B. Marsh</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lyman Wight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Charles C. Rich</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John W. Taylor</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Orson F. Whitney</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Charles A. Calliss</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Delbert L. Stapley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">James E. Faust</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Quentin L. Cook</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 2</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">David W. Patten</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Willard Richards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jedediah M. Grant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Daniel H. Wells</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John Henry Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">James E. Talmadge</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Alonzo A. Hinckley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sylvester Q. Cannon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ezra Taft Benson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jeffrey R. Holland</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 3</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brigham Young</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Frances M. Lyman</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Stephen L. Richards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gordon B. Hinckley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">D. Todd Christofferson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 4</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heber C. Kimball</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Brigham Young, Jr.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Charles W. Penrose</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Joseph F. Merrill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Adam S. Bennion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Howard W. Hunter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Henry B. Eyring</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 5</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Orson Hyde</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George Teasdale</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Joseph Fielding Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bruce R. McConkie</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">M. Russell Ballard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 6</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">William E. McLellin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George A. Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Moses Thatcher</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Matthias F. Cowley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">David O. McKay</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Boyd K. Packer</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 7</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Parley P. Pratt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George Q. Cannon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hyrum M. Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Richard R. Lyman</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Matthew Cowley</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Hugh B. Brown</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">David B. Haight</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">David A. Bednar</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 8</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Luke S. Johnson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John Taylor</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anthon H. Lund</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John A. Widtsoe</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Richard L. Evans</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Marvin J. Ashton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Robert D. Hales</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 9</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">William Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Amasa M. Lyman</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Joseph F. Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Melvin J. Ballard</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Harold B. Lee</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">L. Tom Perry</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 10</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Orson Pratt</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Heber J. Grant</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Henry D. Moyle</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thomas S. Monson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 11</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John F. Boynton</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">John E. Page</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Ezra T. Benson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Albert Carrington</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Marriner W. Merrill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Anthony W. Ivins</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Albert W. Bowen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George Q. Morris</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">N. Eldon Tanner</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Neal A. Maxwell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dieter F. Uchtdorf</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 12</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lyman E. Johnson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Wilford Woodruff</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Rudger Clawson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mark E. Petersen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Dallin H. Oaks</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 13</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Lorenzo Snow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George Albert Smith</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">LeGrand Richards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Russell M. Nelson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 14</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Erastus Snow</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Abraham H. Cannon</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Abraham O. Woodruff</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">George F. Richards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Marion G. Romney</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Richard G. Scott</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u>Seat 15</u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Franklin D. Richards</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Reed Smoot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Spencer W. Kimball</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Joseph B. Wirthlin</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Neil L. Andersen</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whole lotta interesting in there, if you care to dig.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12189152795352211038noreply@blogger.com0