Bright Sadness

Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
Aus einer Wurzel zart
Wie uns die Alten sungen
Von Jesse kam die Art

Und hat ein Blümlein bracht
Mitten im kalten Winter
Wohl zu der halben Nacht

Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse’s lineage coming,
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flow’ret bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half spent was the night.

Michael Praetorius

Advent greetings!

I’ve been thinking about my dad this week: Yesterday would have been his 101^st birthday. I often think about dad since he passed away but especially at this time of year, because no one loved Advent and Christmas more than he did.

I inherited some important traits from my dad, including a profound love for Christmas carols. I’m not talking about the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer kind of songs you hear on the radio and in stores, but traditional English and German carols.

I recently read a description of Advent as a time of “bright sadness.” I think that is brilliant. Amid all of the festivity there is an undercurrent of sadness as we think about times past and loved ones who are no longer with us.

This “bright sadness” has been a part of Christmas from the very beginning. Jesus’s birth was certainly a joyous event, but it led to the murder of Bethlehem’s infants as Herod tried to destroy this newborn rival to his kingship (see Matthew 2:16-18).  This incident, known as the Slaughter of the Innocents, is commemorated in the Coventry Carol, a heartbreakingly beautiful lullaby for the murdered children.

O sisters too, how may we do
For to preserve this day
This poor youngling for whom we sing,
“Bye bye, lully, lullay?”

Herod the king, in his raging,
Chargèd he hath this day
His men of might in his own sight

All young children to slay.

My favorite carol by far is the German carol Es ist ein Ros entsprungen (Lo, how a Rose e’er blooming). For me, nothing sums up the melancholy of the season as well as this beautiful song. O Little Town of Bethlehem, In the Bleak Midwinter and countless other carols share this same feeling.

Let me just say that I have nothing against popular Christmas songs (the Kinks’s Father Christmas anyone?), but these carols remind me that this can be a difficult time of year for many of us. There is no better time to reach out to those we know are hurting. (And if you are the one hurting it is alright to ask for help).

These carols are also good reminders that Christmas is not the end, but the beginning. From Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem we will journey with him to the heartbreak of Golgotha and the cross, which will be followed by the discovery of his empty tomb on Easter morning. Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection are all of a piece. For me, the best Christmas music reflects the joy, desolation, exhilaration and wonder of all these events.

Lastly, good carols remind me of the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness depends on external circumstances and can easily turn into un-happiness. Joy is something much deeper. Joy is the knowledge that everything will be well in the end. Joy cannot be taken away, no matter what may happen.

May you find joy and peace during this season of “bright sadness.”