Tis the Season...

...for Michael McLean music.

My daughter frequently defends listening to Christmas music early by citing her years as a 'choir kid' when school choirs start learning holiday music practically from the beginning of the school year.  Having been a choir kid myself, I can't argue with her!  Anyone that knows my family knows that Christmas begins early...about 10 minutes after returning from the annual trip to the pumpkin patch near my father's childhood home in southern Idaho.  For me, it begins when I identify the craft projects I need to complete for the season - generally gifts of tree skirts and/or christmas stockings... the number of which I've made since 1988 I cannot identify.  ( if YOU have a request, speak now or forever through 2010 hold your peace)

So, this year I've got only one tree skirt to make (for BFF Stacy)... and one advent calendar project to do with friend Rachael.  Not too demanding...once I get started.  These are the things that get me in the holiday spirit. And I try not to sweat over how to afford Christmas...I'm sure anyone that's thought of it (and isn't independently wealthy) has stressed over it.  Its only FIVE paychecks away!

I love all kinds of christmas music with my beloved Harry Connick Jr being a staple. Even so, some of my favorite holiday music comes from a play called 'The Forgotten Carols' by the wonderful Michael McLean.  Part of the reason I love the music so much is because my friend, Karalee, now deceased, introduced me to them.  The other part is that they are just plain wonderful.  It took many, many years before I was able to listen to the songs and NOT tear up. Now, I've been fortunate enough to see the play a few times as well, which makes it all the more special. Since the tour is limited to the West, I am grateful Anna sent me the DVD the first year it was available and I can watch it anytime.

In short, the play is about a rigid, stiff nurse sent to care for an aging 'Uncle John' during the holiday season.  She thinks Uncle John is a bit 'touched' when he tells her he's been alive for over 2000 years.  Over the course of the play, her heart softens and opens as she hears his 'forgotten' carols. While I love the entire show and all the music, there are some songs that effect me more deeply than the others.  I especially love that they are not the typical characters of which we hear for Christmas. A few of them are: (many of them are on youtube)

An overview... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUVTP64vbfI

• Let Him In:  about the innkeeper that turned away Mary and Joseph - wow, what a legacy!  Fortunately, its a positive song as it is really about letting Christ into your life.
• He Was Here: about a shepherd that slept through the angel's announcement and missed seeing the baby Jesus - a song about faith.
• I Was Not His Father: about Joseph...ever think how it would have felt to be charged to raise Jesus???
• Handel Dream: Composer Handel as an angel in heaven who couldn't hold a tune in a bucket... but was destined to provide the world with music that lives through time.

The original version of the CD/Book/Play was added to when Michael McLean added a couple of songs as a 'conclusion' and it is one of these songs that is my favorite. 'What I Need'

All I ever wanted, all I ever dreamed of, everything I hoped, and all the things I prayed for
Couldn't hold a candle to what I've been given , I've been given what I need.
A mansion on a hill, or love like in the movies, perfect little lives where no one has a problem, instead of all those things I thought I really wanted, I've been given what I need.

Even when I didn't understand, when I thought you had no heart, thank you for rejecting my demands and always giving me the better part. 

When I get frustrated with where things are in my life, I remember that someone who knows better - and when I step back and stop trying to control the way events unfold, things turn out exactly how they are supposed to. 


And because I love so many  of Michael McLean's songs, I also want to post this one for my brother... the first time I heard it, I thought of you.  I've been trying to share it with you for years and lost the CD.

I know you don't feel very special most of the time and I want you to know that -I- think you're special and I am grateful you are my brother.  I've always been impressed that you have always been one of the 'ninety and nine' while I have frequently been the lost lamb.  You don't have to be a spiritual giant to be a great man.  I love you. Happy Birthday!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bjt2w9spiwU&feature=related