Christmas 1

We are the reason that He gave His life
We are the reason that He suffered and died
To a world that was lost, He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

I remember first hearing my seniors at youth group back in Sitiawan rave about this song, how it was so full of meaning, so tuneful to the ears. This was when everyone used to get excited about going for carolling practise in the mornings at church. It seems pretty amazing actually, now that I think about it, how people with no vocal training or musical background could be taught in a matter of months to sing in parts. We used to come together and warm up our voices...usually by singing along to a pianist playing scales or arpeggios going higher and higher till it became ridiculous, then going back down again. Then we'd split into our 4 parts; sopranos and altos would be made up of the girls, the tenors and bass would be the guys. Each part had a leader who was responsible for learning the part and teaching it to the rest. And inevitably, we'd clown around in the MYF room, the hall, the sanctuary, or wherever else we'd be practising at the moment, while the leader tried his level best to teach the songs with his guitar/keyboard.

We'd gather back and sometimes, when one group would finish practising earlier than the others (usually the girls), they'd go in and sing their part while the other groups were frantically trying to learn theirs, resulting in a battle of voices, as each part tried to confuse the other as much as possible. When order was restored, we'd sing through the favourites, with a guitarist/pianist at the helm. In time, we'd learn that each carol had a specific guitar intro and could pick it up immediately. Joy To The World, Silent Night, Angels We Have Heard On High, Hark The Herald Angels Sing were the staple SATB songs we sang back then, now since joined by Not That Far From Bethlehem and A King Is Born.

Christmas carolling, one of the staples of December in Sitiawan in the years gone by. Still think the song is pretty deep even now.