Melodies of hope, peace, joy and love
Psalm 100: 1, 2 and 5. NIV
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness: come before Him with joyful songs.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.
Mark 12:30-31
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this; “love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
By Mary Alice Donaldson
My love of music was nurtured from an early age by my mom and maternal grandmother, Nini, who would often play violin and piano duets in our living room. My sister Elizabeth and I would sing and dance, while our Dad laughed and beamed with joy.
Last week my husband David and I had the joy of attending New Horizon Preschool’s Teddy Bear class Christmas program. Hearing our three-year-old grandson and his friends sing “Jesus Loves Me this I know for the Bible tells me so, little ones to Him belong, they are weak but He is strong” will be one of the highlights of this Christmas season for our family and surely for all those gathered in the St. John sanctuary.
As we have focused together during Advent on hope, peace, joy and love, a continuous stream of melodies and poetry have been weaving through my heart and mind.
The poem written by Christina G. Rossetti and set to music by Gustav Holst and Harold Drake “In The Bleak Mid Winter” has touched me the deepest this season, especially the last verse:
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
I have been pondering the ways that Jesus exemplified ways of giving gifts:
Jesus listened, fed, prayed, wept, taught, healed, called his followers by name, knew their hearts, spoke words of peace, ministering by his still presence and in the ultimate sacrifice giving his life for us all.
Dearest Lord Jesus, We ask that you prepare our hearts and minds to be open to all that you have for us in this coming new year. May we see YOU in all those we encounter. Fill us with your holy spirit so that we may share your gifts of hope, peace, joy and love in our world. Amen.
St. John member Mary Alice Donaldson participates in Monday Morning Women and occasionally plays cello in worship.