I sit at the old piano, loving the feel of the keys under the tips of my fingers as I play through the beginning of Pachelbel’s Canon, because the beginning is all I really know. Besides, playing through the same notes, to the point where it becomes rhythm and melodic and nearly systematic, that’s when my mind is the clearest, I think. At least, it’s when it’s easiest for me to sort things out.
It’s Christmas Eve.
Woo.
So what?
My fingers hesitate on the black and ivory keys, and the melody falters. It’s Christmas Eve. Duh. We’re celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ.
Aren’t we?
I take this moment to flip through the book of Christmas music. The pages fall on ‘Silent Night.’ I look around at the decorations that cover my house. Nativity scenes, stars, mangers. So, everything is centered around Jesus, yet somehow we continue to forget. But I’m different. It’s true. Because of Jesus Christ, I’m a different person, a ‘new creation.’ I’ve been changed. So why do I sometimes forget, too?
I jump into the first verse of ‘Joy to the World’ and smile. It’s a cheerful sounding song, not so slow as the other ones I had been playing.
You know, this always happens. We get so excited for Jesus and for God, on Sundays, on holidays, on youth trips. It’s amazing. In fact, it’s the most awesome thing I’ve ever felt, it’s exhilarating and I love feeling like that. But then it all just kind of fades away, and I hang onto it as long as I can, but once it fades, I’m falling away again.
It’s kind of like New Year’s Eve, strangely enough. We make these ‘resolutions.’ We promise to try to change, to become a better person. But who really keeps their New Year’s resolutions?
My thoughts are interrupted by my mom, who pokes her head into the room. “Hey, are you ready?”
“Ready for what?”
“We’re going to the Christmas Eve service at your cousin’s church. Did you forget?”
“Now?”
“Um, yes.”
“Alright, just let me brush my hair and stuff.”
Whenever we go to my Aunt’s little church, it’s always for something special. Like Christmas, or the annual barbecue. The church thinks these of equal importance. But not in a bad way. Tonight was one of those services where you all hold candles, and the person next to you lights yours, and you light the next one. Tonight, we sang Christmas songs with only the light from the candles.
But before we began the preacher only had one thing to ask us. “Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why is there ‘Christ’ in the word?”
It seemed like another ‘Duh’ question to me. We celebrate because Jesus was born. Happy Birthday, Jesus.
Then we launched into ‘Angels We Have Heard on High.’ Hearing all those voices in the little chapel in the middle of nowhere is just amazing. The notes bounce off the walls, until there’s nothing left but voices. We sing mostly a cappella, if anything accompanies us, it’s the beautiful piano.
As we transition into yet another Christmas song, I feel absolutely thrilled. I love Christmas songs already, but this is beautiful. That’s when I start thinking about the preacher’s question. This is where Christ is, in Christmas, at church. He’s in everything, though, but it’s almost like you can feel it here. Then I’m lost in the feeling, and the songs, and the notes.
I smile at my parents once it’s over, and we’re walking out of the chapel to our car. “That was just awesome, don’t you think?”
They agreed, though I don’t think they thought it was quite as amazing as I did.
But that’s okay, because I also don’t think that this feeling will go away quite so quickly as it normally does.
Why?
Oh, yes, because I realized something. Yes, we celebrate the day Jesus was born. But there’s a little more to it. We celebrate the day Jesus was born, because it was when He stepped down from heaven, and became human. So He could die.
So He could save my life.
labels? those are new.
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