Sacrament Meeting Consiglieri Family Presentation

[_consiglieri]

The Sunday before last, I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting on the subject of what gifts we give to Jesus. I posted a brief snippet on it last week, but wanted to follow up with a more detailed account.


My wife spoke first. She worked and worked on her talk, scribbling pages of copious notes, then marking through and writing in the columns as she went along. She finally decided to talk about the story behind the carol, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” by Longfellow.

It was a story I had never heard before, though I am beginning to suspect I am in the minority on this.

Apparently Longfellow’s wife had died from burns she suffered while melting wax or something at her home, her dress caught on fire, she ran into Longfellow’s room where he was asleep, and he got up in time to grab the rug and try to put her out. The rug was too small, it was too late, and she ended up dying the next day. Longfellow himself suffered burns from his attempt to save her that marred the right side of his face, causing him to always show the left side profile in pictures, as well as growing and wearing a beard the rest of his life.

Some time not long after, his son went off to fight for the Union Army in the Civil War and ended up getting shot and paralyzed.

Longfellow was in a massive state of depression, but somehow eventually found a positive aspect to write about, and that was the poem that ended up being made into the hymn. Five verses appear in our hymnal, and they take out the verses that give it some degree of context, showing that it was written during the civil war and apparently taking solace in the hope that it would end up with the north winning.

My wife started out by mentioning the atrocity in Connecticut that had happened just two days before. She was reluctant to do this, but I encouraged her, telling her that it was on everybody’s mind anyway and it gave immediacy to the rest of what she had to say.

From there, she talked about how her first husband had died of AIDS back in 1992, and how she volunteered afterward with other people who were similarly dying. She told a story about one young man whom she bathed and shaved at his request, and the discussion they had when he asked her searchingly whether she believed there was a god.

Next, my daughter played a harp solo of “May It Be” from the first Lord of the Rings movie. I was pleasantly surprised when the bishop announced she was playing it in honor of the Connecticut school children.

By the time my wife was done and my daughter was playing the harp, you could hear a lot of people in the congregation moved to tears and some to sobs.

Then it was time for me to get up. I have rarely felt so out of sync with my remarks. I was ready to give a fairly jocular presentation, and hear the room was as somber as a crypt.

So I figured I would start with that, and just say so; I think I said something about what the bishop had asked me to speak on, and that I usually don’t follow the recommendation, but this is one time I did, and I regretted doing so; that I felt like I was coming on with Act III of a comedy after the first two acts of a tragedy.

From there, I mentioned that perhaps such ambivalent feelings are natural at Christmas, as the birth of Jesus reminds us that in life we are in the midst of death. And that maybe Easter teaches us the flip side of the coin—that in death we are in the midst of life.

I finally got to my prepared remarks, and I mentioned that I had been pondering what I could say and it struck me like a bolt out of the blue that the best gift we can give Jesus is to take joy in the gifts he has already given us.

The gifts we give to others (usually to our children) that sing in our memory are the ones that were rejoiced in—when we hit the nail right on the head—and got exactly what it was that the person wanted; even if they didn’t know they wanted it. These are the toys that are played with until they are worn out, or the article of clothing that is worn continuously until it is threadbare.

If these gifts we give are the ones that make us so happy, creating memories that last a lifetime, then it makes sense that God would want us to similarly rejoice in his gifts already given.

From there, I quoted from some disparate sources with passages relating to Christmas, which included chapter 19 of the Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians, Hamlet I,1, and the Proto-Evangelium of James.

By then, I was out of time, so the congregation was spared the Hymn of the Pearl from the Acts of Thomas.

I think a good time was had by all. At least I know I had fun and I was very proud of my family.

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_quaker]

Are you sure you posted this to the correct forum?

[_Kishkumen]

That was wonderful, consiglieri. Thanks for this report. You have given me much to think about as I obsess over how I will spend the money I hoarded together from the gifts others gave to me. It seems I am doing this all wrong.

[_Nightlion]

The gifts we give to others (usually to our children) that sing in our memory are the ones that were rejoiced in—
--Consiglieri

Wow! I love it!

[_Maureen]

Thank you consiglieri for a great post. I too was not familiar with the Longfellow story.

M.

[_consiglieri]

Here are the original verses to the poem, where not only are there two additional verses that provide context, the last verse in the hymn is made the third verse of the poem, which ends up making more sense to me.

_________________

"Christmas Bells"
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!


And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"


Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

[_consiglieri]

That was wonderful, consiglieri. Thanks for this report. You have given me much to think about as I obsess over how I will spend the money I hoarded together from the gifts others gave to me. It seems I am doing this all wrong.

If you are rejoicing in the gifts others gave you, I think maybe you are doing this just right.

In the actual talk, I said that there were a number of worthy answers to this question, such as helping out other people.

Oh my heck! I almost forgot. I also said that another worthy answer was to keep the commandments, "although King Benjamin warns us of the perils of trying to get into God's good graces by way of obey."

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_kairos]

As a nevermo atteding more( and not remembering but a few) sacrament meetings in 30 plus years of marriage to TBM my wife, i am struck by the second, third and fourth hand stories that Mormons used to try to bring the Spirit into a meeting.by the way: The church is getting great mileage out of the longfellow story - DVD out with
Christmas recital of the story by some guy in a tux- saw it last in a hp gp meeting the sunday before Christmas; also incuded in that hp session in denver was the true story of a hp whose sister endured columbine but has not been emotionally " whole' since then, with the Newtown story linked to it.

When you got nothing else to talk about in your own life, Mormons go to stories from their long ago missions(not had a spritual moment since then? better do Spirit checkup), or regurgitate a conference talk! but hardly ever do Mormons get "personal" in their presentations/ talks of their day to day encounters with Christ which, if they are truly intentional disciples of His, their minds and hearts would be overflowing with them.

i am glad consig's wife got personal- it reminded me of carol lynn pearson's life of loving her AIDS ridden husband after he left the family, did his thing , then came home to die. therein lies true love in action and marks carolyn and your wife "special" in God's eyes.

just sayin

k

[_consiglieri]

i am glad consig's wife got personal- it reminded me of carol lynn pearson's life of loving her AIDS ridden husband after he left the family, did his thing , then came home to die. therein lies true love in action and marks carolyn and your wife "special" in God's eyes.

just sayin

k

Thanks, Kairos. I totally agree with you that the personal route is the way to go. So often Mormons want to be impersonal about things, and the "stories" they tell are from Especially for Mormons about people with generic names involved in stories somebody obviously made up.

Even when Mormons talk about themselves, they usually do so in a way that omits any facts or details--i.e., anything that would render it of interest. (Like when somebody says, "I'm just going through a really trying time right now." How many times have I heard that in church, with nothing else to tell us what the trying time is?)

What I want to hear is how people personally relate to the gospel or other people. (That's why I like Mormon Voices podcast so much.)

What I usually hear at church is talks reciting scripted and correlated doctrine. Not the same at all.

I love Carol Lynn Pearson, too. She is marvelous! You know, I think my wife probably has no idea of what Carol has been up to since My Turn on Earth back in the 1970's. I think maybe I will have to introduce her!

All the Best!

--Consiglieri

[_DrW]

Consig,

Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out where you are coming from.

Nonetheless, thanks for the story of the Longfellow Christmas carol. I am in the same minority as you on that count.

And I do appreciate the feeling of pride as a parent in the accomplishments of one's family in providing memorable content for a Church service, funeral, etc. These are times to be remembered again and again within the family unit as the years pass.