Morning Open Thread is a daily, copyrighted post, from a host of editors and guest writers. We support our community, invite and share ideas, and encourage thoughtful, respectful dialogue in an open forum.
This series was conceived as a haven where folks can drop in to share conversation, ideas, weather reports, and music. Feel free to leave a note, comment, picture, or tune. As always the diarist gets to sleep in, and may show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Pull up a chair, get your cup of tea, coffee, or other favorite morning beverage and join us for a neighborly start to the day ahead.
Advent season is upon us. In the Christian tradition, Advent is the four weeks before Christmas (and not coincidentally, the Winter Solstice).
Light is important as we approach the darkest day of the year.
Some homes and many churches will have an advent wreath with four candles around.
A Christmas candle is placed in the middle of Advent wreaths. One of the candles is lit each Sunday before Christmas, the final and fifth candle lit on Christmas day. Beautiful ceremony that actually goes back into the dim reaches of pre-Christian times. In fact, many of our current holiday traditions have their roots in those early cultures, including decorating with balsam and fir, burning the Yule log, singing, and gift giving.
Of course, Christmas itself was arbitrarily set near the Winter Solstice, when the sun is at its lowest point in the Northern Hemisphere. Whether one is religious or not, the movement of the sun in the celestial plane is not to be denied.
There are some great songs associated with the season. It was rather difficult to make a few selections and stop before they got out of hand.
Here is a new version of an old carol from the acapella group, Home Free, teamed up with western band, Texas Hill. This is their cover of an African-American spiritual composed by John Wesley Work Jr. in 1865, a year after the Civil War.
Jester Hairston was a gospel music composer, actor, and choral arranger. Dr. Hairston arranged the old gospel song, Amen, for the Sidney Poitier film Lilies of the Field (1963), which popularized the song.
André Rieu and the choir cover Amen:
Glen Campbell was not just a singer and virtuoso guitarist. He was also a very good piper. His pipe bag is covered with the official Campbell tartan, naturally.
This is Glen Campbell, with his son Cal playing the drum. This is an older recording. Cal is a grown man now, and Glen lost his battle with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Daridel is a pagan music group. They write,
“To understand who we are we first have to remember who we were. Have we forgotten our roots? Listen to the earth, finding our rhythm by following hers.”
Here is hoping everyone has a great holiday season coming up—no matter how you choose to celebrate it. We look forward to a happy occasion soon with granddaughter Burns Lass and her boyfriend. They get their booster shots next week, so we should be pretty safe.
Wednesday Lagniappe:
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