A light on Christmas Eve eve

 On Christmas Eve Eve, in Minnesota, walking a dog in a rain / snow mix that's mostly rain, just isn't natural. Nor is the forecast for Christmas day, with up to an inch of rain anticipated in some nearby areas, bringing with it the possibility of flooding since the ground is frozen. The jokes about Santa being OK because he has "rain deer" have already worn thin. And, somehow, I had missed one of the highlights of this Christmas season, until the Daughter Person shared it with me.

somehow, children light candles on the darkest nights

Photo by J. Harrington

Kaylee Rodgers, a charming ten year old (who also has autism), gives us a stunning performance of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, with alternative lyrics written by Cloverton for Christmas [see below].

Could it be that the basic reason we're all here is to create an environment and conditions where children like Kaylee and her fellow choir members can thrive and bring moments of overwhelming beauty and joy to the rest of us? Watching and hearing the song's performance triggered a needed attitude adjustment on my part during an otherwise Grinchy day this Christmas weekend Friday of 2016.

Thanks, Kaylee and Daughter Person. I needed your candlelight today.

"A Hallelujah Christmas"
(originally by Leonard Cohen)

I've heard about this baby boy
Who's come to earth to bring us joy
And I just want to sing this song to you
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
With every breath I'm singing Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

A couple came to Bethlehem
Expecting child, they searched the inn
To find a place for You were coming soon
There was no room for them to stay
So in a manger filled with hay
God's only Son was born, oh Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

The shepherds left their flocks by night
To see this baby wrapped in light
A host of angels led them all to You
It was just as the angels said
You'll find Him in a manger bed
Immanuel and Savior, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

A star shown bright up in the east
To Bethlehem, the wisemen three
Came many miles and journeyed long for You
And to the place at which You were
Their frankincense and gold and myrrh
They gave to You and cried out Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

I know You came to rescue me
This baby boy would grow to be
A man and one day die for me and you
My sins would drive the nails in You
That rugged cross was my cross, too
Still every breath You drew was Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.

Our America this Christmas?

This morning I came across a timely piece of writing that made me both proud of my Irish heritage and wonder why something similar hasn't been written for and about America. I'm making an exception of Langston Hughes' Let America Be America Again for what I hope are obvious reasons. The piece in question was written by Niall Horan, an Irish singer. If he didn't write it, he at least included it in his Twitter TimeLine, where I found it.

a Christmas beacon?

Photo by J. Harrington

My question to you is, other than inserting America everywhere it reads Ireland, what else would you change about this? One of the things that fascinates me is that, other than the name of the country, there's no reference to ownership of geography that I've noticed.

Could this be our America?

The next question is, since this is the Christmas season, can we Americans restore a common sense of identity, similar to the one reflected above? Wouldn't that be the best present we could give ourselves this year? The piece, with few edits, describes an America I'd find easy to love and be proud of, and enjoy living in, much more so than the one I seem to run into every day these days.

In case you're wondering, I'm hoping the specific mentions of the "deeply rooted" and the "storytellers" gives this a piece an inclusiveness that makes it acceptable to, perhaps even welcome by, Native Americans, our Indigenous peoples. Your thoughts? Doesn't Whitman help remind us of who we were?

UPDATE 1: At the time the preceding was written, I hadn't yet seen PEN AMERICA's gift from Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palma, this version of Leonard Cohen's Democracy.

UPDATE 2: Democracy reminded me of Neil Diamond's America

America

Walt Whitman, 1819 - 1892

Centre of equal daughters, equal sons, 
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich, 
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
Chair’d in the adamant of Time.

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Thanks for visiting. Come again when you can.
Please be kind to each other while you can.