Cantata Time! and CT

The Cantata went great Sunday.  There is audio online at the Forest Hills website, the recording is called I hear the Prophet Calling from Dec 16.  My solo starts 14:33 into the recording, and is only the first few lines.  The whole thing is a very picturesque retelling of the Christmas story.

I Hear the Prophet Calling by Pepper Choplin is a particularly descriptive and relatable version of when Jesus was born.  Mary rocking a baby to sleep and singing a lullaby seems exactly the same way I used to sing to my babies.  The way he describes a star in the sky to illuminate all of mankind is certainly enough to reset your point of view.

I can't allow myself to fully process what happened in Connecticut on Friday.  Those kids were the same age as my kids.  That could have easily been my city.  I can't imagine what those families are going through.  Losing a child is the worst thing that can happen to us as parents.  I don't care how old your kid is too, you should not outlive your children.  If they are in kindergarten, or about to graduate college, or killed on the job, or just dies early in retirement.  You should not outlive your children.

The cantata left me with a new perspective.  God came to us as Jesus the son with the foreknowledge that he was going to die on the cross.  It was a willing sacrifice, I know.  But that, to me, seems like the ultimate loss of a child.  And a parent living longer than a child is the hardest thing we could ever go through.  The image that was created of Mary holding the baby Jesus in the manger, singing a soft lullaby and trying to rock him to sleep hit me hard knowing what the eventual outcome would be. 

So in Connecticut right now there are a lot of grieving parents.  A lot of people are finding themselves in a position that nobody should ever be in.  I hope they can find some comfort.  I'm not sure I was able to pull this theory together into a cohesive post, but most of my ramblings barely make sense without an interpreter.