Christmas Reflection

With one week left to TYOOL 2007, it is an appropriate time to reflect on how well lived the past 12 months have been.

I cannot think of a better way to close than the chorus from John Rutter's beautiful choral work, Look At The World:

Praise to Thee, O Lord, for all creation
Give us thankful hearts that we might see
All these gifts we share, and every blessing
All things come of Thee

CA borrowed JR's Choral Collection from the City Library today and I am listening to the CD as I type this. Snatches of familiar lyrics and the soaring, achingly pure voices of The Cambridge Singers transport me back to a time not so long ago.

Evenings of fellowship, food and music with the Voices of Praise as we wrestled with (and made a hash of) Handel's Messiah.
Evenings of enchantment, as I discovered to my joy that repeated practice failed to diminish the beauty and meaning of JR's songs.
A friend's stylish wedding in the grounds of a colonial bungalow (For The Beauty Of The Earth).
Said friend singing Pie Jesu in her childlike, unembellished soprano.

This year, we are having a quiet, low-key Christmas. We couldn't escape the mad dash for presents and the usual dilemma of whether X makes an age-appropriate/suitably presentable gift.

But hopefully, we will make time for reflection, for thanksgiving, and to remember those for whom Christmas is a particularly difficult time.

Friends who have just lost their wife/mother.
The Sunbury family who lost 2 boys aged 2 and 5 in a house fire.
Victims of road accidents during the festive season.
The friend struggling to regain her health.
The friend chafing against parental discipline and grappling with disappointing VCE results.

May you be blessed with the spirit of Christmas wherever you are, and may you journey into the New Year with health, peace and joy for yourselves and those you love.