Monday Musical Moment: Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Happy Monday!
The seasonal craziness has hit a full swing… Do you feel it? Or maybe that’s because I’ve waited once again to buy gifts until the last minute once again…
Thankfull, this year feels like things have gone back to normal. School calendars filled as the semester comes to a close, then work and social calendars start to takeover before family and friend get-togethers. All of the hectic running from one place to another, all of the shopping crowds, all of the concerts and other cultural events we all look forward to. This can be such an exciting time of year, but also very meaningful.
Since I moved to Houston in 2013, I’ve been lucky enough to be busy with work, like many musicians, right up until very late Christmas Eve night. The month of December tends to fly by, but I always look forward to the final moments on Christmas Eve, wherever I happen to be spending them, when the feeling of Christmas really takes hold of me for the first time. I love the music, the atmosphere, and being with good friends and colleagues, but it also is the moment when I officially begin the journey back to Alabama to be with my family. Going to the airport on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day has become my own little Christmas tradition.
This year marks the second Christmas at First UMC, and this time not only will I get to spend the lingering moments of Christmas Eve night singing Silent Night with my church family, but Christmas morning as well! I hope to see you at one of our services this weekend, Christmas Eve at 4pm, 6pm, and 11pm, or Christmas Day at 10am, all of which I’m very much looking forward to! As part of our staff devotional this Advent, we have talked a lot about the anticipation this season brings, and the different meanings that word holds this time of year. For me, all of Advent is anticpating that progression of the last moments on Christmas Eve night, and anticipating arriving home to be with family. I hope that this final week of Advent brings you all of the meaningful moments that you have anticipated.
This Monday Musical Moment will be my last of 2022… how did we get to the end of the year so quickly?! Thank you to those of you who take the time to read and listen each week. I look forward to sharing more music with you in 2023! For the last musical moment of 2022, I leave you with a piece I’ve loved for a long time, which remains perhaps the only Christmas song that can also cause me to get pulled over… Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s unrivaled version of the Ukrainian folk song, “Carol of the Bells.”
Wishing each of you a wonderful holiday season!
Justin