“His coming known shall be by the holy harmony which his coming makes in thee.”

Carol: “Thou Shalt Know Him When He Comes” – Anonymous

This text of unknown origin has been set by many composers through the years. The closing line will be my focus for today.

In the study of harmony, there are two words which define the relationship of two or more notes when sounded together: dissonance and consonance. While you may not know what causes this, you recognize the difference when you hear it. For most of us, consonance is preferred over dissonance. The reality is that we could not distinguish between the two if we had never heard a dissonant harmony. In other words, we recognize consonance (stability) because we relate it to a dissonance (instability) we have heard before.

So it is with life: we can only appreciate the stability of it after we have experienced the instability.

All families, couples, groups live in harmony. Some are only familiar with dissonance because they are constantly bickering, in-fighting, supplanting. Others enjoy a more consonant relationship with supportive, loving interaction. Harmony is sort of like cholesterol: it can be good or bad!

The use of “holy harmony” which is ours when the coming Christ arrives indicates harmony of the most-stable kind – the most consonant, agreeable, calming stacking of notes we can imagine.

During this Advent season, you are going to hear all kinds of harmonies in the music which surrounds you in church, in the concert hall and at Wal-Mart! Fortunately, most Christmas songs include mostly consonant harmonic structures. Let those pleasing, smile-inducing melodies remind you that the holy harmony of Christ can be yours… eventually – even when you think your life couldn’t be any more dissonant.

    Thou shalt know him when he comes,
    not by any din of drums,
    nor his manners, nor his airs,
    nor by anything he wears.

    Thou shalt know him when he comes,
    not by his crown or by his gown.
    But his coming known shall be,
    by the holy harmony
    which his coming makes in thee.

Mark Sirett’s Setting of This Text

(Thanks, Suzanne Matheny for reminding me of this wonderful text.)