Music & the Spoken Word

This morning Mom, Dad, and I went to Music and the Spoken Word for a special Christmas concert, "The Wondrous Gift of Christmas". Natalie Cole (singer/songwriter) and David McCullough (historian/author) were the special guests today. It took a bit of patience to get through all the traffic and the snow, but we made it and the Conference Center was packed! The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang some beautiful songs and Natalie Cole did a few solos. There were dancers and bell ringers and David McCullough told some stories about American Christmas Carols. I didn't know that O Little Town of Bethlehem was an American carol.

Phillips Brooks was an Episcopalian minister who preached in Philadelphia and Boston. While he was serving at Holy Trinity Church in Philadelphia, Phillips had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land and on December 24, 1865 attended a Christmas Eve Service at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The service lasted for five hours and was full of songs of praise to God. Brooks was moved by the opportunity to celebrate with other Christians so near the location of Jesus’ birth. Three years later Phillips decided to compose an original song for the children of his church to sing for the annual Christmas program. The thrilling experience in Bethlehem inspired him to write a five-stanza hymn. He gave the lyrics to his organist and asked him to compose a tune. The organist, Lewis Redner, was uninspired and struggled to compose a melody. On the night before the program, he woke with the music flooding his soul. He wrote the tune down and then returned to bed.

None of us have ever been to the Spoken Word before and it was a wonderful and heart warming experience and a beautiful way to start off the Sabbath. I'm glad a member of my parents Ward called last night to offer us the tickets.