Many a Musing from Tom Hunter's Song Growing Co.

[Tom Hunter - The Song Growing Co.]

Greetings to you all as we head deeper into this years' holiday season.  This has been an especially sad season for our family and those of you who knew Tom.  Mixed with our sadness is also deep gratitude for the love that has sustained us.




At the end of this newsletter you will find a special gift from Tom that is particularly relevant.  As you may know, for the past 17 or so years, he directed and MC'd the First Congregational Church of Bellingham's annual Christmas Eve telling of the Christmas story, and each year wrote a new song for this event.  Nearly 1,200 people attended annually and it became a tradition for many people, regardless of their beliefs.  We think that you will find the song Tom wrote and sang last Christmas Eve absolutely amazing.




We are pleased to announce new products for sale at our online store - www.tomhunter.com/store.htm ...



(NOTE:  If you place an order by the end of Wednesday, December 17, odds are really really good that it will arrive in time for Christmas.  Orders placed after the 17th are kind of iffy.)



1)  Jeanne Herrick, a mentor of teachers in Rochester, NY, spent many many hours creating a beautiful tribute DVD featuring slides of Tom and the work of early-childhood educators.  It also features Tom's powerful new songs "As Human As They Can Be" (the title song) and "You Will Know," plus a loving song written under the maple tree this summer for Tom by musician/educator/friend Judy Bierman.



2)  In our ongoing quest to "keep it going," we've released "Love Heals" as a CD.  It's a recording of "songs for the spirit" that features Tom's beloved First Congregational Church of Bellingham folk choir.  We will give a portion of sales to the FCCB to support its mission.



The concept behind "Love Heals" has been especially important to us because of the healing power of Love that we've experienced this year.  Although the title song was inspired by a young man dying of AIDS, the message is universal.  As Tom wrote about this album, ".love really does heal - not by making everything 'all better' or even 'okay' but by being present to comfort and embrace, challenge and change."



We have been comforted and embraced, challenged and changed by the events of this year and we are extremely grateful for your love and support.  Thank you.



- Aeden and Gwen








A gift from Tom to all of us:

 

There's a Death in Every Christmas

by Tom Hunter ©2007




It's a time so full of happiness, of joy and peace and hope

That if you bring up negatives, you feel like such a dope.

So then we tell the story without what happened when

They all left from Bethlehem to go back home again.



Jesus' fam'ly went to Egypt; they had been forewarned

That Herod, feeling threatened, was killing the first born.

The magi went a different way so they could avoid

The danger brought by Jesus' birth - a silent night destroyed.



CHORUS:

There's a death in every Christmas - it's hard to admit.

To have a happy story, dying doesn't fit.

Unless, of course, the love that's born is big enough to go

Into mangers, into tombs, to show us what it knows.



The fact is, when we're honest, it's not a time of joy

For those without the wherewithall to buy that shirt or toy.

And how 'bout grief and sadness when someone dear has died?

Christmas can be lonely with no good place to hide.  CHORUS



So maybe Jesus born that night came first to face the dark,

To walk where light is hard to find and hope's a distant spark.

So then if we ignore what's hard - like death and fear and doubt -

We miss the power of God's love, and what this birth's about.  CHORUS
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