Notes on the Notes – December 20, 2023

Longest Night Service Music: 

“Come and Find the Quiet Centre” (VU #374) 

“Come and find the quiet centre in the crowded life we lead,
Find the room for hope to enter, find the frame where we are freed:
Clear the chaos and the clutter, clear our eyes, that we can see
All the things that really matter, be at peace, and simply be.”

We open our service with the first verse of this hymn by Shirley Erena Murray.  In our busy and chaotic world, it is a reminder to take the time to “be at peace, and simply be.”  When we give ourselves the space, we welcome in God and the Spirit.

Hear the full hymn sung by the Harmony Singers at:  https://youtu.be/IkuMEW0Xesk

“Longing for Light” (vs 1 & 2)

“Longing for light, we wait in darkness.
Longing for truth, we turn to you.
Make us your own, your holy people,
Light for the world to see. 

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today. 

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has power to save us.
Make us your living voice.

Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts. 
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in your church gathered today.” 

This evening we will be using the first two verses of this hymn by Bernadette Farrell (1993).  The words express our longing for the light of God to come into our lives, and through us,  into the world.

Hear the full song recorded by the Harmony Singers at: https://youtu.be/3Sj8UvEafIg

“When the Wind of Winter Blows” (MV #71)

“When the wind of winter blows, bringing times of solitude,
Fill the silent icy night; be our hearts’ compassion.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.

When we shiver in despair, when the chill of death comes near,
Hold us, Spirit, calm our fear, while the evening deepens.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.

When in days of fallen snow, change confounds or love burns low,
From the ashes may there rise phoenix of our growing.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.
Holy Light, warm our night; warm the time of winter.”

This hauntingly beautiful hymn has words by Ruth Duck (1992) and music by Lori True (2000).  The text uses the winter cold and accompanying darkness as a metaphor for the times when we experience fear and despair, and calls upon the Holy Light to “warm our time of winter.”  In these times, we ask God to show compassion, calm our fears, and move us through the time so that we, like a phoenix, might arise from the ashes.

“Be the Centre”

“Jesus, be the centre,
Be my source, be my light, Jesus.

Jesus, be the centre,
Be my hope, be my song, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.

Jesus, be my vision,
Be my path, be my guide, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,
Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus.

Be the fire in my heart,
Be the wind in these sails,

Be the reason that I live, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”

As we move through our Longest Night service we hear this song by Michael Frye (1999).  The song expresses the desire to move beyond our own needs and wants to fully having Jesus and his teachings at the center of our lives.

Hear Michael Frye sing the song at:  https://youtu.be/MERQ0P6O0CE

“Come and Fill our Hearts” (MV #16)

“Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
You alone, O Lord, are holy.
Come and fill our hearts with your peace.
Alleluia!”

This short song of centering and healing prayer comes from the Taize Community, with music by Jacques Berthier (1982).

Take a few moments to relax and breathe at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYfW2BBtAos

“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (VU #44)

“It came upon the midnight clear, that glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold,
“Peace on the earth, good will to all, from heaven’s all-gracious King!”
The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing.

Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats o’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains they bend on hovering wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing. 

Yet with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled two thousand years of wrong;
And warring humankind hears not the love song which they bring.
O hush the noise, and cease your strife, to hear the angels sing. 

For, lo! The days are hastening on, by prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years shall come the time foretold,
When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendours fling,
And the whole world send back the song which now the angels sing.”

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear is about the message of peace that the angels proclaimed on the first Christmas, when Jesus was born. Unfortunately, since the birth of Jesus, humans have created  a confusion of conflicting voices talking over each other which blocks out the song of the angels. The song looks forward to a time when people will respond to the angels by living in peace with God and each other, and likens doing so to offering the angels’ song back to them.

Edward Hamilton Sears, a Unitarian minister, wrote the text of this carol during a period of social and political turmoil in Europe and the United States.  It was first published in Boston in 1849, but the message still rings true today.  It was one of the first times that an American writer had penned words that would become a Christmas carol.  The American composer Richard Storrs Willis, who had studied music with renowned composer Felix Mendelssohn in Germany, wrote a tune called ‘CAROL’ and adapted the words of Sears’ poem to that music about a decade after the poem was first published (1850).

Hear the carol sung by Julie Andrews at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwBajJ3ZFVo

“Silent Night”  

“Silent night!  Holy night! 
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night!  Holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight:
Glories stream from heaven afar,
Heavenly host sing Hallelujah,
Christ the Saviour is born,
Christ the Saviour is born.

Silent night!  Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth.”

The music for “Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) was composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndoft bei Salzburg, Austria.  It has been translated into about 140 languages.  Tonight we will be using an arrangement by Ron Klusmeier.

See Lindsey Stirling perform the song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmvwWxzg3lc

“A Candle is Burning”

We close our service with a piano version of the carol, “A Candle is Burning,” which is also the alternate tune for “Away in a Manger,” written by James R. Murray.