Music of Winter: Hope, Faith, and Frames -- Songs from Emily Smith and Carrie Newcomer

Advent: it is a time of preparation, reflection, of turning of season. At times those things -- the silence, the stillness, the preparing of hearts and souls and minds for the miracle of Christmas -- is lost or at least pushed aside by the rush of day to day life and concerns.

Yet, one of the big lessons of Advent, and of winter, for that matter, is the persistence of hope. Faith and hope at times seem at odds. At other times it is clear they are interwoven. Whatever your faith, whether Advent on the calendar forms part of it or not, this is a season for seeing beyond the tinsel and the lights -- and for seeing the lights and the tinsel as pointers to and reminders of hope.

That is an idea Emily Smith explores in her song Find Hope. You may find it, and other excellent songs, on her album Songs for Christmas.

It is an opportunity to consider how we frame things, at Christmas and through the year, too. That is an idea Carrie Newcomer muses on in her song A Shovel is a Prayer.

You may find the song on her album called Live at the Burskirk Chumley Theater.

You may also wish to see
Emily Smith: Echoes
Candle in the Window
Songs of Hope
Music for the Heart of Winter: Cathie Ryan
Music and Mystery: Conversation with Carrie Newcomer

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