Carol of the Bells
I asked everyone in my family to list their favorite Christmas song for me. It is always fun and educational to do that because it gives me an understanding of what Christmas may mean to them, or even better yet an insight into their personality just a little more.
My daughter loves Carol of the Bells. Abby is a singer, and I can only imagine that she gets a kick or adrenaline rush singing this song as it moves through the lyrical melody and rounds.
Hark how the bells
Sweet silver bells
All seem to say
Throw cares away
Christmas is here
Bringing good cheer
To young and old
Meek and the bold
Ding dong ding dong
That is their song
With joyful ring
All caroling
One seems to hear
Words of good cheer
From everywhere
Filling the air
Oh how they pound
Raising their sound
O’er hill and dale
Telling their tale
Gaily they ring
While people sing
Songs of good cheer
Christmas is here
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas
On on they send
On without end
Their joyful tone
To every home
Ding dong ding ding….dong
The song has a unique history as it was orinally an Ukrainian folk song by Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych, who was an orthodox priest and composer. The current lyrics to the song were not the original, as his lyrics centered more on the celebration of New Year. Peter Wilhousky adapted the song in the 1930′s to the version we are more familiar with today.
After my daughter told me this was her favorite song, I must admit, I was a bit confused. She loves to sing, and I would think she would have picked one of the classics or ballads, or songs declaring the birth of our Lord. But, as I wrote down the lyrics to the song, it all made sense.
Abby is about the spirit of Christmas. She loves everything about the season. She is the one who can’t wait to decorate, that wants to bake the cookies, put up the tree, and jump into Christmas full throttle.
A few years ago our family went through a very difficult time financially, and Rich and I determined to try and do something to make the holidays eventful and memorable for the kids. We did all the decorating, put up the tree, and were ready, except we didn’t have money for presents, and we barely had enough money for our own Christmas dinner. Neither of us have family that live near by, so we did not have the option of going to someone else’s house for the season.
Then the idea hit us…lets open our home for anyone who is in the same position we are. Alone we couldn’t make Christmas dinner anything but something small, but together with others we could have a feast. We would provide the bulk of the meal, the turkey, potatoes, ham, stuffing, and asked others to bring sides like corn, green beans, rolls, dessert, and the like. No gifts to be exchanged, just a day of sharing our love with those who may have been feeling alone too.
After the first year, Rich and I weren’t sure if we wanted to keep going, make this a tradition. Abby did. She didn’t care so much about the presents under the tree as much as she did about sharing the love of God with others.
Listening to the carol of the bells the joy and excitement are contagious. You can’t help but jump in and sing along. The song is a song of good cheer for everyone, the wish is one of a merry Christmas unity for all regardless of age, race, religion. It is a song of sharing the spirit of the season, and a song that I am thankful to have in my remembrance this year.
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