This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

As is the case at Easter, Christmas is a time when I remember my favorite words of famous Christmas carols, the best one of which in terms of music may be “Handel’s Messiah.”

I reflect on Christmas carols, but don’t usually sing them because I cannot, as they say, carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.

There is almost no better way to celebrate the “reason for the season,” which is to remember that Christ came to earth, lived for about 30 years here, and then went to a horrible death.  All to give us a way to have a relationship with Him.

Why do I post this blog on December 22, several days before Christmas?  Well, this is the day for our family Christmas, a tradition that owes its thrill to my wife, Nancy.  She has done such a great job that our grandchildren, even now as teenagers, look forward every year to “Nana’s Christmas.”

An on-line aggregator, Pushpay, came up with a list of the Top 10 Christmas hymns played at churches at this time of the year.  Here is the list, though at the end of what I post this morning, I refer to one of the greatest sounds of Christmas, “Handel’s Messiah:”

• The Christmas carol “O Holy Night” ranked first in a list of hymns most played in December at Christian churches in the United States.
• “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “Silent Night” ranked second and third, respectively.
• The top-10 list is filled with carols familiar to Catholics.  Following the top three choices are, in order, “The First Noel,” “Joy to The World” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.”
• Following those are two songs featured more in the repertoire of non-Catholic churches.  “Glorious Day,” which ranked seventh overall, was recorded by the contemporary Christian group “Passion.”  It is more of a salvation narrative without any lyrics taking note of the birth or infancy of Jesus.  Still, the song’s official music and lyrics video has received 6.6 million views on YouTube.
• There are several versions of the eighth-ranked song, “Goodness of God.”  One video of the song has climbed up to seven million YouTube views.  The song is another in the Christian contemporary genre which focuses more on a first-person singular, personal relationship with Jesus than a first-person plural voice found more often in Catholic hymnody.
• Ninth is the gospel melody “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” which has found a home in many Catholic hymnals and parishes.
• The 10th spot is taken by “O Come O Come Emmanuel,” an Advent song based on a chant melody familiar to Catholics ,not only in the United States, but throughout the world.

As we approach Christmas, I usually try to find a way to get past the glitz of the season, though the “glitz” is not all bad.  There is just a purpose to the season beyond that and a way for me to focus on the “real reason for the season” is to recall the words of great hymns and carols.

So, finally, this on the “Messiah” drawn from a story this morning in the Washington Post:

“They say you can’t force the Christmas spirit.  To that I say:  Watch me. Determined to feel something festive this year, I decided to go all in on the “Messiah,” attending three full performances of Handel’s 1741 masterpiece by three orchestras in one week:  The New York Philharmonic, the National Symphony Orchestra, and the National Philharmonic

“That’s nearly 8½ hours of concentrated exaltation!”

For me, the exaltation occurs when, at our church for the Christmas Eve service, members of the audience are invited to head up to the stage to join in singing the “Messiah.”

Of course, I stay in my seat.  But then, as the performance begins, I stand up with every other person in the audience.  It’s the right action to take — also a traditional one — in response to the great words and music by Handel that uphold God!