#29 O Holy Night

"O Holy Night" has been my favourite Christmas carol for years. It developed special significance over a decade ago when a good friend died just before the holidays after a long illness. I was unable to attend her funeral, but had heard that an opera-singer friend had sung at at the service.

A few weeks later, closer to Christmas, I attended a concert in a church with a blue ceiling the colour of a perfect summer day and golden stars painted upon it. I attended the concert because I knew the opera-singer friend would be performing. Towards the end of the evening she sang "O Holy Night" and as she sang that song it felt as though she were singing my grief over the loss of my friend, and my joy of fond memories, into music.

On Christmas Dayof this year I was listening to the radio hoping to hear "O Holy Night" since I hadn't had the chance to hear it this year. I had been thinking of the song for a few days, and was disappointed at not having heard it.

This afternoon I was driving to Toronto to visit a friend for the afternoon. I was listening to a favourite Sunday program that hosts musical guests. It was the Christmas special, and the musical guest for the day was Matt Anderson. Halfway through the programme he sang "O Holy Night". At first I didn't even register the fact that it was that particular song, but suddenly as he came to the chorus his voice filled the car, and filled my heart and my voice rose from my chest and I joined him:

Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

As I sang the tears streamed down my face and I knew that my Christmas was complete.

#28 Driving at Night

I was driving home from a friend's house two nights ago. It was a crisp, clear night and the temperature was hovering at about -10. In the distance I noticed a strange phenomenon with the lights in the night sky; they seemed to be shining straight up, directly into the sky, similar to those spotlights you sometimes see from big events or dance clubs in big cities.

At first I thought it was just that my windows were a bit fogged causing an illusion of some sort. I rolled down my window and took a look in the direction of the city I was approaching and realized that it was some sort of an effect probably caused by the crisp clear air.

As I kept driving I took in the sight of what looked to be hundreds of spotlights shining straight-up through the night sky towards the stars. Each beam glowed brightly in the centre, and softly at the edges. It was a beautiful sight that reminded me of the northern lights.

#27 Obama in Oslo

His speech is here.

According to a Norwegian professor, it is destined to be one of the most influential Nobel speeches in history. He philosophizes on what it means to receive the Peace Prize as the Commander-in-Chief of a nation at war.

Han tør å ta i bruk de store ordene. Han tør å snakke om kjærlighet, om tro, om det gudommelige, på en sterk og tydelig måte. Det bærer preg av at han har mot til å trekke frem de store spørsmålene, og han får det til å fungere, uten at det blir hult, patetisk eller latterlig. Han går sterkt ut, og får det til å bære. - Jan Svennevig