As quoted by King George VI and Dym's Wall; or 2009 can NOT be over already!

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year,
"Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown."
And he replied: "Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way."

On Christmas Music

I miss choir already!

This year I am on a mission to promote some lesser-known Christmas songs. Joy to the World and Away in a Manger are all very well, but they deserve a lengthy rest (say, forty years), along with the other ten or so songs that are played ad nauseam for a month and a half straight every year. There are a few—Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire comes to mind—for which I vote Permanent Decimation, but never mind that. (Hey wait, it mentions Eskimos! We could get rid of it on grounds of political incorrectness!)

Some of the songs below are harder to sing, so it’s understandable that they aren’t sung in churches and that sort of thing, but artists releasing the world’s 4238th cover of Silent Night have no excuse. There’s a heap of music out there that no one ever bothers with, except for the occasional choir. Choir is great for this. Their choices are more original, and they immerse you in Christmas music starting in September! What fun.

This Little Babe
Draw Tua Bethlehem
The Huron Carol
The Angel Gabriel
The Wexford Carol (or Celtic Woman version if you prefer)
I Saw Three Ships
What Shall We Give?
Coventry Carol
Gaudete
Masters in This Hall / Strings version
When He Comes Again (this version is not that great, but it’s 100% better than Youtube’s other recording. >.<)
Wise Men, They Came to Look (the internet is sadly deprived of a recording. You must come to my church’s Christmas Eve service to hear it.)
Twelve Days of Christmas, as sung/edited/mocked by Relient K. Sorry. Could not resist.

(Aside: these videos of boys' choirs, especially Libera, always amuse me. They all look so angelic with their white robes and soprano voices. Ha!! What a disguise.)

And I must give a shout-out to O Come, O Come Emmanuel and God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen (not God Rest You, Merry Gentlemen), even though they’re fairly common. I myself like songs that talk about sin and redemption as well, although the other sort is all right too. Because on its own, the fact that Jesus arrived on earth is not important—it’s why he came, and what he did.

What are your favourites—well-known or not?

For the Daring

So, Krys and Valia and I have undertaken the challenge of reading War and Peace, starting yesterday. (It was supposed to be during the month of December, but I doubt we'll finish in a month, unless we read 46.7 pages a day. Which is quite doable, but going through it slowly and discussing it is more fun.)

I'm posting this here partly to advertise and partly so I'll be properly humiliated if I quit. We've started a reading group blog and are sort of figuring this out as we go along, but the more the merrier!

Books to the Ceiling

Come join us!