NickAlexander
11-25-2009, 12:24 PM
Hi all...
A few years ago I wrote an article for a Catholic online journal about twenty Advent songs that are worth discovering. You can find it here (http://www.gvonline.net/03PDFFILES/XMAS%202007/STORIES/nick's%20notes.pdf).
In the meantime, I'd like to create a new series of lists, but before I do so, I thought I'd share as to how I'm approaching this. Sadly, "Advent" isn't a word that comes up a lot in Song Select searches, as it seems like it's a universal blind-spot for many, many Christians. Case in point, we all know the Christmas standards, but there's really only one universally known Advent hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Even artists like Sojourn put out so-called Advent albums, but the contents therein are predominantly Christmas-centric.
Advent, as I see it, incorporates four central themes.
1) Light (a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it).
2) Preparation (John the Baptist's cry "Prepare the Way of the Lord!")
3) Hope (They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles)
4) Jesus' Second Coming. (Just as Advent is in preparation for the first coming of Jesus, it's a reminder that we are currently inbetween the now-and-the-not-yet).
So I will run a number of SongSelect queries based on those themes and lyrics, and juxtapose those with the songs that have increased interest in the past few years.
Before I continue, is there anything that you perceive that I am missing... that your church celebrates during this time of Preparation? I, for one, believe that a carefully and fully-lived out Advent allows us to appreciate Christmas all the more, preventing us from falling into the pitfalls of consumerism and greed.
A few years ago I wrote an article for a Catholic online journal about twenty Advent songs that are worth discovering. You can find it here (http://www.gvonline.net/03PDFFILES/XMAS%202007/STORIES/nick's%20notes.pdf).
In the meantime, I'd like to create a new series of lists, but before I do so, I thought I'd share as to how I'm approaching this. Sadly, "Advent" isn't a word that comes up a lot in Song Select searches, as it seems like it's a universal blind-spot for many, many Christians. Case in point, we all know the Christmas standards, but there's really only one universally known Advent hymn "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Even artists like Sojourn put out so-called Advent albums, but the contents therein are predominantly Christmas-centric.
Advent, as I see it, incorporates four central themes.
1) Light (a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it).
2) Preparation (John the Baptist's cry "Prepare the Way of the Lord!")
3) Hope (They that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles)
4) Jesus' Second Coming. (Just as Advent is in preparation for the first coming of Jesus, it's a reminder that we are currently inbetween the now-and-the-not-yet).
So I will run a number of SongSelect queries based on those themes and lyrics, and juxtapose those with the songs that have increased interest in the past few years.
Before I continue, is there anything that you perceive that I am missing... that your church celebrates during this time of Preparation? I, for one, believe that a carefully and fully-lived out Advent allows us to appreciate Christmas all the more, preventing us from falling into the pitfalls of consumerism and greed.