CHRISTMAS DOESN'T NEED TO BE PERFECT
La Navidad No Necesita Estar Perfecta
by
Mary Hunt Webb
Posted Friday, November 30, 2018
The holiday season can be stressful for many, but the recollection of a Christmas Eve long ago may help to put things into perspective. [Photographer: Public Domain Pictures. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
Does the holiday season leave you feeling overwhelmed with so much to do in so little time? As Christmas approaches, various media bombard us with messages that imply that we can only have a perfect Christmas if we decorate, bake, and shop. With so much to do and so little time in which to do it all, one can feel stressed. But, did you know that one of the most memorable Christmas carols was first sung on an evening when things weren't perfect and didn't occur as planned? It's true! Here's how it happened:
Father Joseph Mohr was a young priest that wrote a poem while in Mariapfarr, his father's hometown in the Salzburg Lungau region of Austria. His poem commemorated the night that angels appeared to shepherds on a hillside and announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus.
Two years later, he was in Oberndorf bei Salzburg at Christmas-time and was in need of a hymn for the Christmas Eve service. It was the night before Christmas Eve when he remembered the poem he had written two years before.
The next morning, he asked Franz Xaver Gruber, the schoolmaster and organist from the neighboring village of Arnsdorf, to compose a melody to accompany his poem. With only a few hours left before the Christmas Eve service, Gruber quickly complied with Mohr's request.
The organ in the church in Obendorf, on which Franz Gruber intended to play his new composition, may have looked something like this one. [Photographer: Public Domain Pictures. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
After meeting that deadline, Gruber went to play his new song in the church for that Christmas Eve service of 1818, but discovered that the organ there had broken down! Consequently, Gruber improvised so that "Silent Night" was first sung to the accompaniment of Gruber's guitar. It didn't matter that the organ was in disrepair; that didn't prevent the combined beauty of the lyrics and the music from penetrating the hearts and minds of that congregation and of all that have since sung or heard "Silent Night".
From Austria, the beloved "Silent Night" spread across northern Europe and was performed for King Frederick William IV of Prussia. He mandated that his cathedral choir sing it every Christmas Eve. "Silent Night" later came to the United States where John F. Young translated the first three verses from the original German lyrics into English. The translator of the fourth verse into English remains anonymous. A tight deadline and a broken church organ didn't keep "Silent Night" from eventually being translated into more than 300 languages and sung around the globe. That reminds us of the truth of Proverbs 16:9, which says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." (NIV)
Who knows but that a less-than-perfect Christmas may turn out to be the most memorable one you've ever known?
"Silent Night" is still being played on the guitar as well as a variety of other musical instruments. [Photographer: Analogicus. Photo courtesy of Pixabay.com.]
BIBLE VERSE FOR THIS POSTING
Proverbs 16:9 — In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps. (NIV)
Proverbios 16:9 — El corazón del hombre piensa su camino; Mas Jehová endereza sus pasos. (Reina-Valera 1960)
