We’ve put up our Christmas tree, added some decorations around the house, readied Christmas cards for mailing and finished our Christmas shopping.
And, this past Sunday we listened to Christmas from St. Olaf, an online, digital concert featuring St. Olaf College music ensembles and a compilation of songs from previous Christmas Festivals. It was created as an offering to replace the beloved in-person St. Olaf Christmas Festival which couldn’t happen this year because of the global pandemic.
The concert didn’t get off to a smooth start. But then it is 2020. Things are not going well this year.
As a previous ticket coordinator for this popular event we had our share of problems when we first offered tickets online so the concert glitch brought back memories of my time at St. Olaf… the difficult but also the good… friendships made and festivals attended, all bringing a sense of gratitude for my time on the hill. As many concert goers told me over and over and over again, the Christmas Festival was the start of their Christmas celebrations. It has become that for me.
The technology was worked out and we were able to connect to the digital concert and hear some beautiful, hope-filled music. The signature finale “Beautiful Saviour” was included and that made everything right. I now have a sense the Christmas season has begun and we can start celebrating the birth of Jesus.