J.E. Solinski
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • About
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • My Favs!

Review . . .

12/28/2019

4 Comments

 
Picture
ofIt’s that time of year where the “Year in Review”s are gathering speed. This year is going to be a blinder, isn’t it? Print media, social media, television . . . all are having their take on the best and the worst of just about everything. And if you are like me, you could certainly use a bit of reminding about the good, because there were some tough times this past year, both on the world stage and personally.




I am beginning to appreciate the Old Testament more these days, because of all the hidden gems buried within what can sometimes be, for lack of a better term, boring recitations. I had just finished reading about the Jews rebuilding of the walls in Jerusalem under Nehemiah’s leadership (which really wasn’t boring because they had a lot of people who wanted to kill them, so they had to lay brick with one hand and hold onto a weapon with the other). Try doing that! That was tough sledding. Anyway, they persevered and completed the wall and then came together to celebrate and thank God for His protection during this tough time.

However, they didn’t just look at the 52 days of hardship they encountered while rebuilding the walls. They went all the way back to creation—then through the exodus. They admitted the sins and rebelliousness of their ancestors which had led to their captivity—and then God’s subsequent great mercy by saving this “remnant.” (That’s the Reader’s Digest version.)

But I like that strategy. So often at the end of the year, I just look back at that year. But some years it’s a bit tougher to see (or admit) God’s faithfulness. Some years He feels a bit (or a lot) more distant. This year I followed the lead of that faithful remnant of Jews. I took pencil and paper and went back to the beginning. I reminded myself, first and foremost, that He is the God of creation and that He created me. That He brought me to a certain family in a certain land. I remembered some of God’s faithfulness, His protection, His guidance, and His goodness throughout my life. I also remembered those times of rebellion and His subsequent grace and mercy.

I didn’t write everything He has ever done because I couldn’t remember everything, but I did write down those that He brought to mind this year. Then as the year progresses, I am sure He will bring other things to mind, and I will add those to my story. Then next December 31, I will read it again, and be reminded of His faithfulness and mercy. Not a bad way to end a year. Not a bad way at all.



4 Comments

Behind the Music #3 . . .

12/21/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
Okay, so I said I didn’t have a favorite among the three, BUT . . .

“Mary Did You Know” is the most modern of my three song choices. It was written in 1984 by Mark Lowry (a Christian comedian, singer, and songwriter) when he was asked by Jerry Falwell to “write the program for their next Living Christmas tree.”

He agreed and as he began writing the speaking parts he thought a lot about Mary and as he says:

“As my mind went back to the manger scene, I began to think about the power, authority and majesty she cradled in her arms. Those little lips were the same lips that had spoken worlds into existence. All of those things were contained in the young child lying quietly on her bosom.”



He then started to think about all the questions he would like to ask her if he could sit down with her, and those questions became his song.

It is a beautiful song, with lyrics that I think all of us have pondered at one time or another. But as Lowry’s mother said,”If anyone on earth knew for sure that Jesus was virgin born - Mary knew!”

The entire interview with Mark Lowry is fascinating to read, and I have included the link below should you wish to visit and read more.

I have also attached the Pentatonix version which I believe to be the most beautiful rendition of the song.

                                                                                       * * *

“Story behind the song: ‘Mary did you know?’ The St. Augustine Record:staugustine.com. 28 Nov. 2014. web.

https://www.staugustine.com/article/20141128/lifestyle/311289974
(Copy and paste into a browser.)

1 Comment

Behind the Music #2 . . .

12/14/2019

2 Comments

 
Picture
I am sure I am not alone in thinking “O Holy Night” is one of the most beautiful Christmas carols ever. It is one of those songs where less is more. One of the most beautiful renditions I ever heard was by a music pastor who sang a solo and with minimal instrumentation. The chorus “Fall on your knees” is so dynamic that it is impossible not to do so.

But this song’s story has a very interesting history.

In 1847, Placide Cappeau de Roquemaure, a full time wine seller and a part time church attender and poet was asked by his parish priest to write a poem for the upcoming Christmas mass.



Using the gospel of Luke as his reference, he worked on it while traveling to Paris and by the time he arrived “Cantique de Noel” had been written. He liked it so much that he thought it should be a song, so he asked his friend Adolphe Charles Adams to help. Adams was well known world-wide for his orchestral compositions and his ballets, but reports say “the lyrics that his friend Cappeau gave him . . . challenged the composer in a fashion unlike anything he received from London, Berlin, or St. Petersburg.”

The irony is that Adams was a Jew, and while he didn’t believe in Jesus as the Messiah nor did he celebrate Christmas, he was so moved that he worked hard to “marry an original score to Cappeau’s beautiful words.”

The song was immediately accepted and its use spread throughout France until, eventually, it was discovered that Cappeau had left the church and joined the socialist movement. From then on the song was deemed “unfit for church services” and banned from the Catholic church in France. However, popular appeal kept it alive, and after a decade American writer John Sullivan Dwight introduced it to America, for two reasons: first, because of the beauty of the song itself, and second, because the third verse talks about loving one another and the chains of oppression ceasing. Dwight was a ardent abolitionist.

Some historical accounts say that on Christmas Eve 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War, one weaponless French soldier left the safety of the trenches and started singing the first verse of “Cantique De Noel” and was soon joined by a German soldier who sang a verse from Martin Luther’s "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come.” All fighting then stopped for the next 24 hours.

Finally, “O Holy Night” is believed to be the first song to be played over the radio, for on Christmas Eve in 1906, university professor Reginald Fessenden (who worked with Thomas Edison) was working on what would soon be known as radio waves. On this Christmas Eve, Fessenden, playing with his new “broadcast” equipment, decided to read Luke’s version of the nativity story to whoever might be able to hear him, and then he played “O Holy Night” on his violin.

Below is Josh Groban's versin of the song. I hope you enjoy it.
* * * *

“The Amazing Story of ‘O Holy Night.’” Beliefnet. Web.


2 Comments

Behind the Music . . .

12/7/2019

1 Comment

 
Picture
What is Christmas without Christmas music? Though there are some tunes that can grate on the nerves (such as one about an elderly relative coming to an unfortunate demise via a reindeer), many are uplifting and beautiful.

In the three Saturdays leading up to Christmas, I thought I would share the stories behind three of my favorite Christmas songs. Though I enjoy them all equally, it only seemed appropriate to begin with “Carol of the Bells” because it was never meant to be a Christmas carol.

However, it is probably one of the most recognizable tunes of the season even though most of us couldn’t recite more than a line or two of the lyrics. In fact, many of the most popular versions are strictly instrumental.

Originally, the song was a Ukranian “winter well-wishing” folk song, written in 1916 by Mykola Leontovich.  “The [original] song tells the tale of a swallow flying into a household to proclaim the plentiful year that the family will have. The song’s title is derived from the Ukrainian word ‘shchedryj,’ which means ‘bountiful.’”

The song became part of the Ukrainian National Chorus’s repertoire as they toured Europe and North and South America, performing more than one thousand concerts. Americans first heard the tune on October 5, 1921 at a sold-out performance at Carnegie Hall.

American choir director Peter Wilhousky thought the work sounded like bells, so in 1936 he wrote new lyrics to convey that imagery. Because one of the lines reads, “Merry, merry, merry, merry Christmas,” (this is usually the line most of us can sing) it has become a Christmas staple and one of the most recognizable, loved, and iconic Christmas carols.

In fact, it is so popular that almost every performer or band has recorded their own version, from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir to Metallica. So far I haven’t heard anyone stray so far afield as to make a real mess of it.

I have included the classic Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s instrumental version and then the beautiful a cappella arrangement by Pentatonix.   

Enjoy.

* * * *

“‘Carol of the Bells’ wasn’t originally a Christmas song.” Rice University News and Media Relations: Office of Public Affairs. 13 Dec. 2004. Web.




1 Comment

    Author

    Jody Eileen Solinski spent her career teaching in the California public school system where she enjoyed helping young adults take their place in society. A native Californian, she enjoys the outdoors and so loves living in Northern California where she can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation up close.

    Picture
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All
    Anger
    Appreciation
    Art
    Attitude
    Beauty
    Belief
    Books
    Bravery
    Calm
    Change
    Christian Bloggers
    Christian Living
    Christmas
    Cleansing
    Conflict
    Consistency
    Coronavirus
    Costs
    Demands
    Disappointment
    Discontent
    End Times
    Evil
    Faith
    Fatigue
    Fear
    Fires
    Focus
    Foolishness
    Forgiveness
    Frustration
    God's Protection
    God's Sovereignty
    God's Timing
    Good Intentions
    Grace
    Grief
    Healing
    Hell
    Holy Spirit
    Hopes
    Hymns
    Hypocrisy
    Ingenuity
    Isolation
    Jesus
    Legacies
    Listening
    Love
    Memories
    Money
    Mornings
    Mothers
    Music
    New Years
    Opportunities
    Order
    Pain
    Patience
    Peace
    Perfection
    Perseverance
    Perspective
    Prayer
    Pressure
    Promises
    Purpose
    Readiness
    Reading
    Reduction
    Refreshed
    Relationship
    Relief
    Remembering
    Renewed
    Reset
    Rest
    Sacrifice
    Science
    Seeing
    Self-Centeredness
    Service
    Sin
    Sleep
    Spiritual Diet
    Spiritual Life
    Storms
    Strength
    Suffering
    Summer
    Talents
    Temptation
    Thanksgiving
    The Bible
    The Tongue
    Troubles
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Water
    Weaknesses
    Wise Counsel
    Worry
    Writing
    Youth

J.E. Solinski ©2015