On that first Christmas night as Joseph attended and Mary gave birth, numerous concourses of angels waited in joyful anticipation of the blessed event. And as He came into the world, they broke forth in songs of pure joy and praise to God. Never before in the history of this world has the birth of any one baby meant so much to so many.
I have often wondered where in eternity I was that night. I don’t know. Maybe we were all there. I can’t think of any place more important we could have been.
I have a friend who shared with me a special experience and gave me permission to tell it.
She grew up in a non-religious home. As she married and started a family, it began to weigh upon her that she wanted her children to have the kind of values that came with religious training.
At first she tried sending her children to church, but she soon recognized the futility of that. Not a member of the church, she began attending faithfully with her own children, even being asked to sing in the choir.
One evening one of the leaders of her congregation came to her home and was visiting with her husband. After a few minutes they called her in and told her that the visitor had something important to share with her. Soberly and carefully, he explained that as she had been singing in the choir earlier that day, the Spirit of the Lord had whispered to him that she had been part of the angelic choir that heralded the birth of the Christ child.
Now she stood dumbfounded by his words. Such a thing had never entered her mind. Could they be true? As the years have passed, she has come to accept on faith what he said. Someday she will know more surely.
Now my friends, I don’t know if we were there. But that’s not the point.
Music is the language of the Gods. We have no idea of the beauty and the harmony of the music that awaits us in our Heavenly home. It is one of the highest forms of praise and a powerful means of spiritual communication – ‘even like unto prayer,’ our Heavenly Father says.
Remember – and please remember this: When this earth was created, we sang and shouted for joy. When our Savior and Redeemer was born, we sang and sang for joy. And, my dear friends, choirs are preparing even now for the Savior’s second coming.
This Christmas, join the angels and sing! Sing like you have never done so before – the joyful music of the season. Sing the sacred music of Christmas, and it will be with you as though you had been there. The joy and peace of Christ will fill you as it filled the angels that first night. God bless you and Merry Christmas!
Story Credits
Glenn Rawson – December 2000
Music: The Music of Christmas – Michael Leavitt
Song: Mormon Tabernacle Choir – Hallelujah Chorus