Christmas Choir

I "sing" in the ward choir. I get much more out of it than I offer (I had a dream when I was young that I would sing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but my voice better supports involvement in the ward choir). The Sunday before Christmas I had a life-changing experience and wrote the following:


The Christmas program started
And each one took their part.
The choir was woven through....
Testimonies began to spark.
A piano solo brought heaven
By a young girl's practiced hands.
The Holy Ghost would be felt
With the singing that was planned.
The ones who made it happen
Two Directors and two more
Who played the music beautifully
The spirit dwelled within their score.
Then one arose to sing
The song she had within
It was as though the angels
Were in the room again.
Another shared his spirit
By singing velvet tones
To help us all remember
Christ’s map to getting home.
There were two souls more unlikely
To be on the program there.
It was the parents of a singer
Their faces shown with pride and care.
For you see, they were his blessing--
His father mouthed the words in time
And his mother's face reflected
The love of Christ divine.
Only those up on the stand
Shared that glimpse of mortal love.
The parents of the singer
Were an image of heaven above...
The congregation felt
Thankful for the choir who shared
But the choir was more blessed
Looking at those angel faces there.
Shanna C. Hugie

Like, Love . . . Christ

In a world easy to get lost in, may we all be found seeking the never-ending strength received from the example of our older brother Jesus Christ. Perhaps we can let it help us to love even the difficult with a Christlike love....

Someone posed the question
And it got me thinking deep
“What does Christ Like love mean?”
Then my eyes began to weep,
For although I make an effort
To be a giving soul
Sometimes mortal labors
Give an offering not whole.
Daily motions of the world
Bump into eternal dreams
Leaving frayed edges of intention
Instead of solid seams.
Perhaps to just resemble
Our brother Christ on earth
All that is required
Each day from time of birth
Is to make our mind remember
The atonement of The Son
And then to ask “help me be enough”
Until each day is done.
Oh, let my human heart be open
To the possibility
That my name can be recorded
As one who gave pure charity.
-Shanna C. Hugie