Advent Stories: The Music of Christmas

I cannot think about Advent and Christmas without remembering the music associated with this time of the church year. I also cannot think about that music without remembering the person who taught me so much about it. That person is, of course, my mother.

Miss Verna, as some of you may know her, has been a church musician all of her life. Trained as an organist, pianist, vocalist, choral director, public school educator, and private lessons music teacher, she worked in each of those fields, often managing several at one time.

I have always thought of my mother as a minister, because of the way that she uses her talent to glorify God. She taught me that in church our music is not meant to be a performance for our own satisfaction, but rather it is an act of worship. Once I learned not to focus on myself, how I looked or sounded, I was able to offer up my own gifts in the same way. If I can do that so it pleases God or helps someone else feel His presence, then I am happy with what I have done.

I love all of the music of Christmas, from "Away in a Manger" to Handel's glorious Messiah, but it would not have been so important to me if not for the lessons I learned from my Mother.

Thanks, Mom!

Anne Hartson

2011