O COME, EMMANUEL reflections on music and readings for Advent and Christmas

by gordon-giles

Make Christmas special this year by exploring the legends, message, and theology behind some of your favorite carols and hymns. This book of daily devotions will take you from December 1 to January 6, from the first days of Advent, through Christmas, ending at Epiphany. Each day, Gordon Giles invites you to draw closer to God through spiritual and historical explorations of beloved, familiar music.

As you read and reflect, you will be asked to consider the meaning of some of the famous Christmas carols that we sometimes sing without a passing thought. You will be introduced to obscure saints as well as living poets and musicians of faith, and you will hear the timeless truths of love and forgiveness, pain and loss, darkness and light.

Genres: Christmas, Religion, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting to learn about the origin of various Christmas Songs but at times it got a bit dry for me. Also, I found it hard to read about 1 song each day for the entire Christmas season so I tended to read it in 4 or 5 day chunks instead. I enjoyed how the author pointed out that the Advent season is a dark time of year and all the lights we put up help to brighten it. He then mentioned how God brought light into our dark hearts during this time too. My favorite carols to learn about were:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing - it took 4 people and hundreds of years for it to arrrive to its current form.

The Twelve Days of Christmas - all the symbolism relating to Christianity was interesting. Three French hens are the gold, frankincense and myrrh - really? Four calling birds is really four colly birds which is another name for blackbirds which symbolize Satan being defeated and there are 4 gospels in the Bible. The Five gold rings are not really rings but ringed phesants which appear in Fra Angelico's depiction of the nativity (circa 1440) and symbolizes the 5 wounds of Christ. The eleven pipers represent the diciples of Christ.

Of course other sons were covered, but these two stick most in my mind.

[Timothy James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply the best Advent Readings book I have read. Each day the author uses a seasonal song, carol, or hymn, and a passage of scripture, as the focus for his writing, and completes it with a thoughtful prayer. There is plenty of information about the history of each song and how it brings out a them in the day's passage of scripture. The daily readings are informative and challenging, and are written with clarity and gentle humour. This is certainly a book I will be recommending to others and rereading in a future Advent.

[Shirley · Rating 3 out of 5]

My annual Advent book. Lots of interesting insights into Advent/Christmas carols, the history of their words and music. It felt as if the daily reading relied so much on the carol prompt that it swamped the spiritual content and there was minimal personal application. Each day had a connected seasonal Bible reading and a little spiritual reflection, but often not very much. Prewritten closing prayers appear at the end of the section but I rarely find these helpful in any context!

Sadly, although the carol information was often very interesting, not one daily reflection resonates as having helped me in my Christian walk of faith.
I see there is a similar Lent book by the same author, which I suspect is similar. I think I would still give it a go because of the musical insights.

Anyone who reads this Advent book, and I expect the Lent book too, should bear in mind this may only be helpful if read in addition to rather than instead of a daily ongoing Bible reading.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. I have tried to do Advent readings in the past, and generally quit in the middle of the holiday rush. But I made it all the way through this one, which ended today with "We Three Kings" as the Epiphany reading. It was engaging not only because of my familiarity with the more common carols ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "The Twelve Days of Christmas," etc.) but because over the years--16, I think--we have sung many of the less familiar pieces in the annual Festival of Lessons and Carols at our church, which is modeled after the service by the same name held at King's College in Cambridge each year. I highly recommend this book as a way to take a few minutes each day during the Advent and Christmas season and pause from the holiday craziness to really think about the words to some of the music we hear so often.

[David Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice read over the Christmas holidays but be sure to start right after Thanksgiving.