I have been meditating on the psalmist’s words “…he rained down manna for the people to eat, he gave them the grain of heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; he sent them all the food they could eat.” (Psalm 78:24-25). This reminds me to look back on 2010 with remembrance and gratitude…for provision, blessings, memories and even the struggles. In the first week of 2011 I have been coming to terms with surrendering the New Year. For me, this means deeper trust, child-like anticipation, sometimes running, sometimes walking, sometimes waiting, and replacing self-sufficiency with dependence on God.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
Johann Sebastian Bach is my favorite composer. I played and memorized many of his inventions and preludes in high school. I didn’t know that one day I would arrange one of his most known melodies that is still performed at weddings around the world almost 300 years after its composition. It is known as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” This piece is the opening track on the “December Peace” album in tribute to Bach. One of his great quotes is “The aim and final end of all music should be unto the glory of God and the refreshment of the soul.”
Emmanuel
As I arranged the hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” to include original piano with the familiar, haunting melody, this piece became the full expression of the darkness of this world, the longing of the human heart for a savior, and the rejoicing that comes when the good news is embraced. Isaiah foretold his birth (Isaiah 7:14). Luke recorded how the angel came down to the shepherds in the field the night of his birth (Luke 2:8-15). John wrote the last words he spoke before his death on the cross (“It is finished” – John 19:30). The opening and closing three muted strikes of a low E on the piano represent the nails going into the cross, the finished work. The music in between represents my desperate need of a savior and the rejoicing in God’s gift of salvation to me through Jesus.
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