Here’s a hymn to get you cranked over this morning–Rise Up, O Men of God, by the Robert Shaw Chorale.
In Sunday school some of us used to sing, “Wise up, O men of God!” We were just dumb kids, but there might’ve been some wisdom in our choice of words.
I had only heard this carol once, years ago, but I never forgot it. Thank you, Phoebe, for entering it in our carol contest–Masters in This Hall, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale. (I seem to have missed the one with the CC button for lyrics, but this one is too nice to get rid of.)
Ach! No entries yet today in our Christmas Carol Contest. I must provide a carol.
So here’s one to get the ball rolling: We Three Kings of Orient Are, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale.
If you haven’t entered yet, now is as good a time as any. The contest closes Dec. 31.
[Editor’s note: While Joe Collidge was worried about hairballs, three more carol contest entries came in. I don’t usually put up this many posts in one day, but a contest is a contest–so here come the carols.]
Requested by Phoebe, What Child Is This?–and I know you love the Robert Shaw Chorale, so I was happy to find this video for you.
Thank you, Phoebe, for entering this beautiful hymn into our Christmas carol contest–The Holly and the Ivy, by the Robert Shaw Chorale. I don’t know about anybody else, but I’ve loved Christmas all my life and the older I get, the more it stirs my soul.
Some of us goofy boys in Sunday school used to sing this as “Wise up, O men of God,” never guessing how much good sense that amended lyric made. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings…
Rise Up, O Men of God, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale, vintage 1958.
Here’s another one I’d never heard before: requested by Phoebe, How Unto Bethlehem the Pilgrimage of Kings?, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale. Can anybody identify the artist whose work illustrates this hymn?
Phoebe asked for this one, The Holly and the Ivy, by the Robert Shaw Chorale. This was supposed to have lyrics, but I can’t find any. I think the little girl in the picture must have put them away somewhere, trying to be helpful.
Our Christmas Carol Contest continues!
The fallen world’s in trouble, headed straight to Hell, needs saving–
So God sent His Son. Not as a conqueror, but as a baby for whom there was no room at the inn. As an adult, He was a penniless wanderer. He was put to death in a shameful manner usually reserved for the worst criminals, although He had committed no crime.
By this His Son God saved the world.
What Child Is This?, sung by the Robert Shaw Chorale.
We pray Phoebe is feeling better today. This is for her, Robert Shaw fan that she is–Good King Wenceslas, by the Robert Shaw Chorale.
Dec. 26 is St. Stephen’s Day, Phoebe’s birthday–and the anniversary of our first date, Patty and me: Dec. 26, 1976.
She has cancelled tomorrow’s doctor’s appointment, preferring to be home with our tree to sitting around in the waiting room.