Singing Christmas Tree

Christmases Past

The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

 - Buddy, Elf movie

I was all ears when choir director Mang Berting made the announcement.

Our church choir was participating in the Singing Christmas Tree event that December.

A singing what?!

Never heard.

As it turned out, such a tree was actually a giant, pyramidal structure that emulated the shape of a yule tree. Its branches consisted of platforms on which singers would stand. Guard rails and banisters would be decorated with tinsel and lights.

I was excited, hoping to get a spot on one of the topmost "branches" of the tree. 

That night, high up on an upper branch with the altos, I began harmonizing with about 100 other voices.

Flooding the night air with our warbling of The First Noel, I felt like I had become part of something greater than each of us.

Making music together singing favorite carols such as Joy to the World, Carol of the Bells, and Little Drummer Boy changed us from a mere a collection of individuals into a unified choral ensemble.

And so I sang and bellowed, singing loud for all to hear.

Sing, indeed, with shoulders back, and head up 

So that song might go to the roof and beyond to the sky.

Singing and singing, 

Until life and all things living are become a song.*

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 * Richard Llewellyn