Oh, Holy Night

Gramma, 

Drove an hour to see two of my grandchildren perform in the annual "holiday" music program.   It has become commonplace in many schools to avoid any reference to Christmas.  The music teacher has been with the district for three years.  She is young, energetic, and innovative with her selections.  This year, it was very jazzy. 

The singing also involved actions, with hands, entire body movement and sometimes instruments.  There was a song about lighting a candle for peace.  The lights were dimmed.  Three kids with flameless candles lit the candles of other students, who in turn spread the light until they all held lit candles.  It was a somewhat mournful song, almost a lamentation of the futility of hoping for peace. 

Tears ran down my face as I though of the children of Aleppo being murdered, their last vestiges of hope and life being witnessed on social media.  Their parents pleading for help, the world watching.  No savior arriving.  No peace for them. 

For more than a month, Veve has been telling me they have been practicing a super secret song they can't tell anyone about.  She was very excited about it.  She is in the third grade.  I didn't pry.  The third, fourth and fifth grade sang their separate songs.  Then they performed together. 

The teacher was visibly nervous.  The auditorium was dark.  She told the crowd that she hoped we would like it.  She didn't know how we would receive it.  The kids worked very hard to make this happen.  As she tuned her guitar, I heard what I thought were the first frail notes of what I couldn't believe was coming. 

The kids began with soft voices, as if they were far away.  "Oh Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining, this is the night of our dear Savior's birth...."  Their voices rang out louder and louder.  The music teacher sang solo for two verses while the kids did the chorus.  Her voice conveyed a passion for what she was doing.  My eyes were leaking again.  You could hear a pin drop when it was over. 

I was among the first to stand up.  Somebody had dared to put Christ back in Christmas in a public school.  I wondered if she had gotten permission for this.  Would it become necessary to sign a reinstatement petition? 

The quality of the children's voices was beyond their years.  I would guess there were some unfamiliar with the Christmas story.  I wondered if in the process of learning the words, they were helped to understand.  Had the teacher taken a chance on overstepping boundaries to explain it?  Whatever happened here and whoever was in on it, Wow, just Wow.