Page 8 - Grace Mail December 2021

A Carol from Darren
‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing’ / ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’
Because
Both refer to the Angels’ Song (as many Carols do!) as Heaven serenaded Earth. The first carol invites us to sing along ‘with th’angelic host’ as we ‘join the triumph of the skies’. It’s a wonderful hymn of praise matched perfectly with Mendelssohn’s majestic music. It also reminds me of my Great Nan who, in her broad Hampshire accent, would say
‘hark!’ instead of ‘listen’.
The second carol isn’t a favourite musically, but I love the way the words have the opposite perspective to Hark! The Herald Angels. Instead of calling for us to sing along and make a lot of noise as we glory in the arrival of Jesus, this carol invites us to shut up and listen to what the Angels are actually singing about: ‘But with the woes of sin and strife the world has suffered long; Beneath the angel-strain have rolled two
thousand years of wrong. And man, at war with man, hears not the love song which they bring; O hush the noise, ye men of strife, and hear the
angels sing.’
And then, the author looks forward to the glorious day ‘When peace shall over all the earth its ancient splendours fling, And the whole world give back the song which now the angels sing.’ I think that’s our calling in a nutshell – to learn the Gospel Song of the Angels and teach others how to
sing it.
Have a happy and blessed Christmas.
8. Grace Mail