Arriving at Christmas in a time of Plague. Rejoicing amidst our Sorrows, helped by JS Bach
“Come as you are, listen and see”
We woke up on Christmas Day with ice flowers on our window panes. I stand by the window, bask in the morning sun streaming in and almost feel joy.
Wherever you are, and however you might feel on this first day of Christmas, I invite you to listen to JS Bach’s grand opening of the Christmas Oratorio. All available instruments, from the tympani to the trumpets, create a magnificent and uplifting musical context to the lyrics, as the choir exhorts us to: Rejoice, exult, rise up,praise what the Highest has done for us…
But wait. In this year of ungraspable loss and isolation you want us to — rejoice? Please try something more realistic. You should be more empathetic to the weary travelers. We come each with his or her heavy burden, we come with grief we cannot name and the merriment of Christmas, especially this Christmas, is too much to bear.
In this second year of the plague,…
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