Opus 32, Read the Second Verse

Why do people miss the meaning of Christmas?  They never read the second verse.  I am talking here about the “real” Christmas music, the hymns, carols, and classical selections that actually are concerned with the story of Jesus.  Many people can sing along with the first verse.  They can do so without engaging their minds.  Since most public singing focuses on the first verse, that is enough to be socially acceptable.

Have you ever read the other verses?  Take for instance “Joy to the World.”  Let me share the third verse with you:

No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground.
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found.

If that isn’t a message of hope and change, I don’t know what is.  How about the fourth verse of “Silent Night?”

Silent night!  Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at they birth,
Jesus, Lord at they birth.

That is a little more than wanting a “White Christmas” or being “Home for the Holidays.”

The same truth holds for most of the hymns and gospel songs that have been sung for generations.  Everyone knows the first few words to “Amazing Grace” and “Abide with Me.”  They sang them in a lot of the old Cowboy movies.  Its like getting a seven layer burrito and only licking the sour cream off the top.

Read the second verse, please.