Issue link: http://denverseminary.uberflip.com/i/1189422
28 By all rights, we should not have loved Christmas. Not have loved its glow, nor its graces —nor our Christ. We, my little family, were among the "the disinherited," as African Amer- ican theologian Howard Thurman described our kin. Colored and despised, belittled and excluded, put down and put out. Yet, every December, Christ was coming. So in ironic anticipation, we sang His way here. As Thurman, indeed, declared of Christmas, "There must always be remaining in every man's life some place for the singing of angels—some place for that which in itself is breathlessly beautiful and by an inherent prerogative throwing all the rest of life into a new and created relatedness." Oh, to voice with such eloquence, as Thurman, the mood of this gleaming season: "The commonplace is shot through now with new glory–old burdens become lighter, deep and ancient wounds lose much of their old, old hurting. A crown is placed over our heads that for the rest of our lives we are trying to grow tall enough to wear." Despite all the hard "crassness of life," Thurman added, "life is saved by the singing of angels." If that's true, my little family did our humble part, especially in church choirs. But my parents adored popular music, too. So, soaring on Daddy's hard-earned RCA Victor record player console were the Christmas songs of Nat King Cole, Patti Page, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Mathis, and dozens more. Enthralled, in fact, we also watched Nat Cole's brave TV show on NBC. But, alas, when the network couldn't find a national sponsor for a black man's program, Cole canceled it him- self on December 17, 1957—yes, one week before Christmas. That final night he sang "The Christmas Song"—his silken ode to chestnuts roasting on an open fire. The lyrics describe a fantasy. But Jesus is real. In His birth, as Thurman wrote, "the common man…beholds" all the possibilities of life, "becoming aware of his true worthfulness" as a child of God. Thus, angels sing. Sadly, not often together. Yet if we love like God, in one accord, the world won't hear sour notes. Together, we'll hum the melody of Him. Patricia Raybon BoArd memBer "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God." – Luke 2:13 the singing oF Angels December 23