Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A - Pike County Journal Reporter - Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Opinions
Christmas music, Christmas spirit
BY WALTER GEIGER
news@barnesville.com
1 am privileged to be
a member of the
chancel choir at
my church, First United
Methodist in Barnesville.
Under the direction
of Joan Thomas, we
performed our Christmas
cantata Sunday evening.
We spent about three
months preparing so
1 have been immersed
in Christmas music for
some time but last week
1 went to the Christmas
concerts at the
elementary and middle
schools.
All the kids were
wearing Christmas
pajamas, bouncing
around and belting out
familiar classics
and some
upbeat modern
stuff.
At the
middle school
event, three
orchestras also
performed.
1 was
impressed
by the talent
displayed by
these kids. It
was obvious
their directors
had worked
long and hard
with them for their
moments under the
spotlights at the fine arts
center.
1 had other
engagements prior to
both shows and was
rushed. When
1 arrived 1 was
tired from
work and all
its hassles.
Once the music
began, 1 forgot
all that and
lost myself in
it. Indeed, 1
left with the
Christmas spirit
in my soul.
Then came
the cantata
performance
and all the
work paid off
beautifully. There were
handbells, organ, piano,
flute, percussion and
guest musicians and
singers and it all went
off without a hitch - a
beautiful performance.
Even the children’s
choir did not hit a sour
note. They were flawless.
Many people struggle
at this time of year
due to deaths in the
family, economic issues,
depression, worries that
run the gamut and that
old nemesis stress.
If that describes you,
I suggest you find a
Christmas program to
attend this week and
a service to go to on
Christmas day. Even
better, join your church
choir or community
chorus and perform next
year.
You don’t have to
be able to read music.
1 can’t. Most likely they
will be happy to have
you.
Hearing and singing
Christmas music will
rekindle your faith and
put you in the spirit. Try
it.
Merry Christmas and
thank you for reading
your local newspaper!
Walter Geiger is the editor and
publisher of the Pike County Journal
Reporter and The Herald Gazette in
Barnesville. He can be reached at
news@barnesville.com.
The Christmas Story
Luke 2: 1-20
Messages from our ancestral spirits
A hawk sits on a wire above the author’s RAV 4 as a soothing
sign on the day her daughter was to have surgery.
“In those days a
decree went out from
Caesar Augustus that
the world should be
enrolled. This was the
first enrollment when
Quirinius was governor
of Syria. And all went to
be enrolled, each to his
own city. And Joseph
also went up from
Galilee, from the city of
Nazareth, to Judea, to
the city of David, which
is called Bethlehem,
because he was of the
house and lineage of
David, to be enrolled
with Mary, his betrothed,
who was with child. And
while they were there,
the time came for her to
be delivered. And she
gave birth to her first
born son and wrapped
him in swaddling cloths,
and laid him in a manger,
because there was no
place for them in the inn.
And in that region
there were shepherds
out in the field, keeping
watch over their flock by
night. And an angel of the
Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of the Lord
shone around them, and
they were filled with
fear. And the angel said
to them, “Be not afraid;
for behold, 1 bring you
good news of a great joy
which will come to all
the people; for to you is
born this day in the city
of David a savior, who is
Christ the Lord. And this
will be a sign for you: you
will find a babe wrapped
in swaddling cloths and
lying in a manger.” And
suddenly there was with
the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host
praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth
peace among men with
whom he is pleased.”
When the angels went
away from them into
heaven, the shepherds
said to one another, “Let
us go over to Bethlehem
and see this thing that
has happened, which the
Lord has made known to
us. And they went with
haste, and found Mary
and Joseph, and the
babe lying in a manger.
And when they saw it
they made known the
saying which had been
told them concerning
this child; and all who
heard it wondered at
what the shepherds told
them. But Mary kept all
these things, pondering
them in her heart. And
the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising
God for all they had
heard and seen, as it had
been told them.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was
shared as part of an L4GA grant
program during the free GATHER:
Write It Out Loud storytelling session
held at the local coffee shop.
BY KIM JOHNSON
JohnsoK@pike.k12.ga.us
Before my mother
died four days after
Christmas in 2015,
1 asked Dad to look
through the recipe
box and give me some
recipes written by the
hands of my ancestors.
1 framed them, and they
hang on the wall of my
kitchen to welcome the
kitchen spirits for those
times 1 attempt to cook
anything. They gather,
I’m sure, standing over
my shoulders, shaking
their heads, convinced
by now that I’m a
complete kitchen misfit.
Throughout her
life, Mom was a great
everything - a great
cook, a nature lover,
a preacher’s wife who
taught my brother and
me the ways of the
outdoors on the coastal
island of St. Simons. We
crabbed and fished
off the pier, collected
shells, and learned how
to identify all kinds of
birds.
Mom had some inner
sensor that alerted
her to bird presence,
particularly hawks. My
brother Ken and 1 still
frequently send text
alerts: Mom was on a
wire by Highway 362
checking to make sure
I had my seatbelt on,
warning me the cops are
running radar up ahead.
We believe in the
presence of birds to
convey messages.
1 discovered through
research that pastors
who’d served on
St. Simons could be
buried in Christ Church
Cemetery, along with
a spouse. 1 asked to
move the burial from
her family plot in
Glennville, Georgia to
the island, where we
knew we would have
more presence in future
years. In a moment that
often happens to families
losing loved ones, Ken
and 1 were a little divided
on exactly where she’d
be buried. But we’d
made a sibling pact, after
growing up preachers’
kids and seeing families
fall apart all our lives.
We’d learned that the
best gift we could give
our parents - and the
best way we could honor
their legacy - was to get
along, whatever it took.
We promised to always
work things out. We
walked through Christ
Church Cemetery, my
preference for her burial
being in the old section,
where she’d have casket
neighbors who’d been
church friends. My
realtor brother was
concerned with the oak
roots and preferred the
new section.
In my best loving
voice that demonstrated
commitment to our
pact, 1 compromised.
“Fine, brat,” 1 told him. “1
picked the spot, you pick
the plot.” So he picked
the new section.
1 wrestled with it and
lost sleep. At breakfast,
1 confessed to my
preacher Dad (who
did her funeral) that
1 needed reassurance
from Mom that she’d be
okay up there by herself
until more burials
happened.
“1 prayed for a sign -
some majestic bird, with
a large wingspan, like
an eagle. Since there is
no tree canopy up there
yet, 1 want her to send a
bird to let me know Ken
didn’t mess this all up.”
We pulled into
the cemetery for the
graveside service, and
parked up by the tent.
And when the car doors
opened, we heard them
before we ever saw
them.
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
A hawk sails through the sky
as the author visits out of
state as her grown daughter
has surgery.
“What have you
done?” My father looked
at me accusingly, like
I’d done some voodoo
magic.
We glanced up, and
three buzzards circled
overhead.
My brother
elbowed me and
pointed to the skies,
chuckling. “Look! She
showed up! And she
brought her parents.”
Just like Mom to send
three buzzards in place
of an eagle or hawk.
My ancestral spirits
seem to enjoy their
gatherings, always giving
us signs and messages.
Imagine our deep
comfort when, just last
week, one of my grown
children was having
surgery two states
north of here. As we
left the hotel for the
hospital that morning,
there on a wire above
my RAV 4 was a
hawk. Mom. Gathering
with us. Waiting on us to
say everything’s going to
be okay.
Kim Johnson lives on a farm in
Williamson. She serves as District
Literacy Specialist for Pike County
Schools. She enjoys writing,
reading, traveling, camping, sipping
coffee from souvenir mugs, and
spending time with her husband
and three rescue schnoodles with
literary names - Boo Radley (To
Kill a Mockingbird), Fitz (F. Scott
Fitzgerald), and Ollie (Mary Oliver).
Pike County
Journal
Reporter
www.pikecountygeorgia.com
P.0. Box 789
16024 Barnesville St.
Zebulon, Ga. 30295
770.567.3446
The Pike County Journal
Reporter is the official
organ of Pike County, the
cities of Zebulon, Molena,
Meansville, Williamson
and Concord. It is
published weekly by
Hometown Newspapers
Inc. Second class
postage is paid at the
Zebulon, Ga Post Office.
Publisher: Walter Geiger;
staff: Jennifer Taylor,
Brenda Sanchez and
Rachel McDaniel.
FACTS AND FUN1
Thomas Nast,cartoonist, drew first depiction of fat Santa.
AT PIKE
BY DWAIN W. PENN
100 YEARS AGO
Dec. 21, 1923: “Christmas brings joy to young
and old, rich and poor. Since it is more blessed to
give than to receive, make someone else happy
and experience the joy of giving.”
75 YEARS AGO
Dec. 23,1948: The Lions Club hosted a Christmas
party at the school with over 300 attending. Santa
brought gifts for the children, carols were sung
and the evening closed with a meal of hotdogs,
hamburgers, seasonal treats and desserts.
50 YEARS AGO
Dec. 20,1973: The Georgia Forum TV show held
a discussion of Comet Kohoutek stirring controversy
due to Halley’s Comet in 66 AD “foretelling” the
destruction of Jerusalem. Kohoutek was predicted
to be the brightest celestial Christmas light since the
Great Comet of 11 BC presaging the Birth of Christ.
25 YEARS AGO
December 23, 1998: Pike County High School
students learned about Christmas giving as
several goals were exceeded resulting in increased
incentives. After 6,000 food items were collected,
principal Denise Burrell kept her promise to help
clean the school lunchroom.