Harps of Gold
I love traditional Christmas carols that tell of Christ’s birth. In my mind, the wonders and miracles of fulfilled prophecy add to the mystery of God’s love coming down from glory to man.
However, sometimes my mind takes a detour. Bless my heart.
Those musicians out there can empathize. When a sticky valve on a trumpet chooses to jam during one’s special solo, it causes a panic. When playing a duet on the Hallelujah Chorus and the music falls to the floor, that my friend, can cause chaos! When an amp blows its juice in the middle of a show – oh, my!
I was singing along with my piano student, Khloe, as she played the Christmas piece, “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear” when the line about angels hit me square in my funny bone.
I imagined angels flying around the shepherds with their golden harps with the glorious light from heaven causing the harps to sparkle magnificently. I then began to wonder and am wondering still about several things. How well does a golden harp resonate? Does a golden harp use gut strings or metal? Were they folk harps or concert grands? What kind of apparatus did they use to hold the harps in place so they could play? And finally, those of you who know harps know my final “I Wonder?”
What happens when an angel’s harp string pops? Can you imagine being in concert with a bajillion angels giving praises to the new born King, and snap! Your D string pops! That my friend would cause yours truly to shout, but not with a voice a praise and worship!
If the angel with the broken string was like those in some of my books (yet to be published), he would smile, touch the errant string which would miraculously reattach, and all would be well. In the real world, changing a string is a trialsome thing to say the least. And trialsome is the least that I say when it happens to me.
Though Thesaurus.com says trialsome is not a word, I want to tell you it exactly describes the situation when a harp decides to pop a string! I haven’t played my harp for probably five months because of the trialsome string! I am hoping to con some of my children into repairing the monster so that I don’t have to use my plumbing language so close to Christmas. I want to stay off the naughty list.
Funny as that is (or isn’t), there are many who will have trialsome to terrible things happen this Christmas. There are those who have suffered job loss, sickness, or deaths of loved ones this year. Those who were in the recent tornadoes are experiencing unthinkable losses. As we compare our lives with the ‘what could have beens’, let’s give our own praise for the blessings of each new day. Let’s join the angels who still sing praises.
Like any musician who knows the show must go on, I encourage us all to praise God in whatever brokenness we are experiencing. Whatever trials we must face, I want to remind you that God is always as close as a prayer. As Paul preached to the Athenians, he told them God’s purpose for the nations was to seek after God and find Him. “Though He is not far from any of us. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being.” Acts 17
The following is the third verse of the song.
And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low, who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow,
look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing. O rest beside the weary road, and hear the angels sing!
May you find the peace of God during this season and everyday of your life.
Blessings
KB
