OCR Text |
Show jftttsk at mmt rT fej'14 HE first Christmas night was f w iii Oot 3 special benediction on jB music. By His divine sanc-lSSs"?- tion it was the means of iiTffcjj proclaiming the advent of a r"4pri ll0Pe aiKi happiness hitherto XJ3$? ut considered ordained for Sw humanity. On the night when the Christ child was born, heavenly singers were sent forth and the music of celestial choirs was heard for the tirst time by human ears. The melody of that glorious hymn came and passed Into the harmony of the spheres beyond be-yond our ken and only the message of peace was handed down to the generations gen-erations to come. How different the '.estiny of music had the pattern of .elestlal harmony and the melody the angels song been preserved for us. It was left for man to find within him self the heavenly music. No event in the history of the world has set vibrating the finest chords of music in the hearts of the gifted ones equal to the festival of the birth of the Christ child. The supernatural messengers announcing His coming, the loveliness of character of His moth er, the heavens themselves exulting at His birth are subjects which to contemplate con-template but a moment awakens mu sic in the heart and forms a song in the stillness thereof that Is the echo of that scng that rang through the uni . verse that starry night 2,000 year? ago. Yet the melody the angels san? was lost. Mary, His mother, gave vent to the fullness of her heart when she knew that she was to be the chosen one o'. her people in the magnificent "Mag nificat." the poetry of which still ha' power to thrill whenever its spontaneous spontane-ous glorification of the Lord is heard. Yet the melody the Virgin sang is lost lfel Tender Lullabys Were Crooned by the Young Mother. The lullabys crooned by the young mother in the stillness of the moments when the divine child was lulled to sleep have had no listener who passed them on to an eager world. What couki have been the burden of the Intimate things of which the mother sang when the restless world was shut away and the two, closelyi entwined, communed together, with the knowledge of theii destiny hovering about them. Did she sing Him tender baby songs that made no reference to His divinity or did she praise Him as -her God and sing her .fidelity as she held Him close and soothed His earthly weariness? Did she I beg of Him to spare her the suffering I she knew awaited them or did she en ! courage Him In tender human fashion I to bear the terrible human agony fore ordained for Him? The lullabies that I soothed the sacred child were never heard by profane ears. In the life of Christ there must have been much music. Descended from the greatest singer of all times, the psalin-i psalin-i 1st David, and His advent Into the j world proclaimed by the singers from I Ills heavenly home, there was a human ; and divine heritage of music woven into the scheme of His existence on earth. In the childhood years of the Lord, what were His childish pleasures, what were His childish songs? Was the soul of the young Saviour too sad for singing or did He fashion Himself songs from a heavenly source whlsp ered by angels or did He sing the song-of song-of His people heard on the lips of His companions? In the synagogue did He praise His Father after the manner of David and to the tune of the lute and was His sacred voice heard when He read from the scriptures. The songs the Saviour sang have vanished. Vet the music of that sacred time Is not lost, for It Is born again in the i hearts of the groat composers. Bit by j bit the melody that was heard the firsi Christmas night has come back to us distilled from the pens of the specially chosen, and who is there to say it Is not akin to the music of the celestial choirs? The inexplicable urge of mel l ody. the grandeur of musical thought the loftiness of Invpiration must surely sure-ly be from the same source as was the music that was heard but once on earth. I It was not without intent that the ! message of peace was sent out on the "wings of song," for that is the power of music to bring peace. Nor was it by I'bance that the melody came from the heavens, for ever the Inward eyes of the soul turn heavenward under the Influence of great earthly music. The radiance of the star shines in the heart under the touch of melody and 1 the sou! expands to a fuller compre-! compre-! lienslon of the promises for eternity. ' Washington Star. V NTJ Service. |