The most powerful Christmas carol of all time
I love Christmas music. I pretty much start listening to all my holiday favorites the day after Thanksgiving. I’m not too keen on the newer stuff. I make a few exceptions for Mariah Carey or Michael Bublé. And even those two artists are decades old now, so maybe I don’t actually listen to any “new” holiday music at all. I think the old classics are best, like “White Christmas” by Bing Crosby and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by Frank Sinatra.
However, one song stands out. The song above all songs. The song that makes my heart expand with emotion every time I hear it. “O Holy Night” is my favorite Christmas carol. It’s so moving, and the last time I listened to it, I had this a-ha moment when I heard the words “and the soul felt its worth.” I thought, our souls are still pining to feel their worth. We are longing to be acknowledged, to be known, to feel that we matter. What a message this Christmas classic tells if we really listen. A thrill of hope. The weary world rejoices. Fall on your knees. ‘O hear the angel voices. ‘O night divine. ‘O night when Christ was born.
The reverence of this one song brings me to tears almost every year. My favorite rendition of the song is by Martina McBride (maybe because I heard her sing it live at a Mercy Hospital fundraiser many years ago). There are hundreds of variations of the song, and really I’m not sure there is a best or worst version. If you watch a dozen artists perform “O Holy Night” on YouTube, you won’t be disappointed.
The history behind the song is even more fascinating, but back to my original thought - our souls are still pining to feel their worth. The need to feel worthy is so deeply engrained in us that sometimes we don’t even know how to express it. We confuse our desire for happiness with worthiness. And “O Holy Night” reminds us that through humble beginnings of being born in a manger, under brightly shining stars, Jesus showed us how to love one another. We can rejoice in the good news of that divine night.
The reflection of the Christmas season means rooms full of people seeking refuge, and those longing to know the true source of peace, joy and hope may finally find it. And regardless of it coming from a powerful song, that’s also my wish for the world - to know peace.