A Gift for “On’ry” People

 

A Gift for “On’ry” People

As our youngest grandsons grow into adulthood, those moments we can spend together are especially cherished. This year, Elliot (14) agreed to come over one Saturday after Thanksgiving to help with our Christmas decorations.

 Elliot made several trips up and down the basement stairs with his arms full, sparing me from at least a week of backaches! He also moved some furniture in the living room to make space for the Christmas tree.

After those things were accomplished, we reassembled the small artificial tree and fluffed up the pine needles on the branches, straightening those that were bent out of shape by being crammed into the narrow box. The tree came pre-strung with tiny white lights, eliminating the need for doing that ourselves. Nice! 

Elliot stood on the step stool to make it easier to reach the top branches, as we began hanging the ornaments, trying to put the larger ones near the bottom and the smaller ones near the top. After two plastic bags of ornaments had been emptied, he looked at the tree and commented that there wasn’t room for any more decorations.

“Look, I found some more!” I exclaimed, holding up two more bags that had been stashed away in another bin. He didn’t say anything, but patiently continued until every ornament had been hung on the tree. Then there really wasn’t any more room!

The tree looked bright and beautiful. Nearly every ornament held the memory of a beloved family member or friend, making it even more special. Elliot recognized many ornaments that we had hung in past years, some containing pictures of his mom and family, others that he and Nate had hand-crafted when they were small.

Next he carefully placed the replica of a wooden stable on the antique sewing machine handed down to me from my grandpa. The ceramic figures of Joseph, Mary, a shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulders and the baby Jesus lying in a manger were arranged in and around the stable, as I moved a pole lamp closer so that the manger scene would be illuminated.

Things were coming together! Very exciting! Our last project was to string Christmas lights on the shrubs in front of the house. Two extension cords and about five strings of lights later, we were finished.

While we were decorating the tree, Elliot asked me a question.

“What is your favorite holiday?”

“Well, I have to say Christmas,” I answered. Celebrating the birth of Christ is always the highlight of the year for me.

“Same here,” he replied.

“Why do you like Christmas?” I queried.

Elliot’s answer surprised me. “I like the music! It goes through my head all year long!”

The discussion with Elliot made me realize the impact many Christmas carols have had on my life in past years. This year, it has been, “I Wonder as I Wander.” The rather sad melody and the unanswered question contained in the first and last verses have been playing repeatedly through my mind:

 “I wonder as I wander out under the sky,
How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.
For poor on’ry people like you and like I…
I wonder as I wander out under the sky.” *

            It was first heard by folk song writer, John Jacob Niles in 1933 during an outdoor meeting of a traveling evangelist in a small Appalachian town. People in that region especially were suffering from the Great Depression.
            When the evangelist’s young daughter, Annie Morgan, sang those words, John Niles was captivated. He paid her a quarter each time she sang it for him. Two dollars later, he had the first lines and melody of a folk tune! With more verses added by Niles, it eventually became a carol sung at Christmas.

 Annie’s family was poor and homeless. In some towns, the Morgans were unwelcome visitors. Perhaps the song came from their experiences, causing them to wonder how God could love “on’ry”—“ordinary” or maybe “ornery”—people!

The joy of Christmas is that He does! God loves all people, even ordinary, ornery ones like most of us! And that is why He gave us Jesus!

“Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:7-8 NIV

*“I Wonder as I Wander, “John Jacob Niles 1933