My dear readers,
I wrote the following script as an Oral Interpretation (interpretive reading) ten years ago for a “Candlelight Carols” event in our home in Arizona. Recently, I found it in my Christmas music, edited it a bit, and then re-wrote the ending, giving it a different turn.
If you can use the script in any way, a home advent reading or with a group, feel free to use it. It is very fitting this year to give attention to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem/carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” written on Christmas day in 1863. And to provide fascinating balance, I’ve brought in Phillips Brooks’ “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” written in 1867. What may we gain from their perspectives on heartache, war, providence, and the wondrous gift so quietly given to a noisy world?
Paul and I are going to be presenting this revised version this Sunday evening to our Home Group (five couples from our church that meet twice a month). We are calling our evening “Candlelight Carols and Cafe.” We will sing together, eat a fellowship meal together, and sing some more, scattering a few short readings in here and there, with this reading culminating toward the end.
So, how did Longfellow resist the encroaching despair when heartache upon tragedy invaded his world? Does the loudest noise need to be the most influential voice in your life? Listen to this reading:
Journey North Character 