AMERICAN MOSAIC - Christmas in the U.S.

AMERICAN MOSAIC¹ - Christmas in the U.S.
By Nancy Steinbach and Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Friday, December 24, 2004

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic, in VOA Special English.

This is Doug Johnson. On our special Christmas show this week: Church music written by a friend of Special English...And a question about how and why Americans celebrate Christmas.

Why Americans Celebrate Christmas

DOUG JOHNSON: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Ethiopia. Hailu Kassa asks how and why Americans celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Day is December twenty-fifth. But Americans who celebrate the holiday begin preparing long before. They buy gifts for their families and friends. Many make their homes look special. They put colorful lights in the windows and on the outside of their houses. They put branches from evergreen² trees on the doors.

 
Graphic³ Image
Almost every home where Americans celebrate Christmas has a Christmas tree. They buy a real evergreen tree, or a man-made one. They cover it with lights and small objects made of glass, metal, paper or wood.

Tradition says that a kind old man called Santa Claus travels to every house the night before Christmas. He leaves gifts of toys for the children. Family members leave gifts covered with pretty paper for each other under the Christmas tree.

Some Americans open their gifts the night before Christmas. Others wait until Christmas morning. They may go to church or visit friends or family members. They may eat a special holiday meal. Or they may take part in holiday activities for sick or homeless people.

Christians⁶ celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus. They believe he was the son of God. Americans of other religions generally do not celebrate Christmas. However, many send holiday cards or gifts to their Christian⁵ friends. Some Americans do not observe Christmas as a religious holiday, but they decorate their homes with lights and a tree.

Some people think that the religious meaning of Christmas has been lost. They say people spend too much time buying gifts for the holiday instead of attending church and thinking about the religious meaning of Christmas.

These Americans want to put more religion back in Christmas. This often involves holiday observances in public places. Some people object, however. They point out that the Constitution establishes a separation of religion and government.

A similar problem takes place in American public schools. It concerns singing Christmas songs. This year, the New York Times newspaper reported about a religious music ban declared by a school district in the state of New Jersey⁷. Many community groups criticized the decision. Christians said the schools were trying to take Christmas music away from children.

Other people supported the ban. They said that singing Christmas songs would exclude or offend people of other religions in the community. Still others suggested that the schools include holiday songs from all the different religions. This way students would be learning about other cultures as well as their own.

One school district in the western state of Washington has published rules for holiday time. The schools in the town of Lake Washington say they include the beliefs and music of all groups in the community. Teachers say they are teaching about all religious holidays, not celebrating them. Still, many Americans like to listen to Christmas music. They may listen to songs about Santa Claus or the Christmas tree. Many people also attend church during the Christmas holiday and listen to songs sung by a choir⁸.

This year, Willis Kirk released a new album of Christian church music. He is a jazz musician and an educator. He has played with famous musicians such as Wes Montgomery, Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker. He is also the father of VOA Special English writer, Cynthia Kirk. Here is Cynthia to tell us about her father's music.

Rejoice⁹, Rejoice!

CYNTHIA KIRK: Willis Kirk's new recording¹⁰ is called, "Rejoice, Rejoice – A Modern Oratorio¹¹." It is a musical story about the events leading to the day that Christians believe was the return to life of Jesus Christ.

 
Rejoice, Rejoice! Choir
Willis Kirk wrote all the songs on the album. He calls it a collection of spiritual, gospel, jazz, rap⁴ and western classical songs. It includes a large choir, a storyteller and an orchestra¹². My father calls the Oratorio, "a creation¹³ of the spiritual soul in music."

The creation of this work dates from nineteen sixty-eight. My father was asked to perform a jazz religious service for a university in Indiana. But not everyone at the university liked the result. They thought the songs were not traditional enough for a religious service. So he stopped work for a while, but finally finished. Here is one of my father's favorite songs on the album, called "My Jesus Lives."

(MUSIC)

Another song on the album is called "Hallelujah." The storyteller speaks in rap when the Christian Bible says Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. My father said he wrote "Hallelujah" to show that rap music is universal and can even be used to tell a story in Christian music.

(MUSIC)

This next song is an example of the individual performances on the album. Everett Greene sings "I'm Going to Wash my Soul."

(MUSIC)

We leave you now with the title song on the album. It is called "Rejoice, Rejoice."

(MUSIC)

DOUG JOHNSON: This is Doug Johnson. I hope you enjoyed our special Christmas AMERICAN MOSAIC program. All of us in Special English want to wish you a good holiday and a Happy New Year, too!

Our program was written by Cynthia Kirk and Nancy Steinbach. Paul Thompson was the producer. Join us again next week for AMERICAN MOSAIC, VOA's radio magazine in Special English.

1 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

2 evergreen   

n.常青树；adj.四季常青的

参考例句：

• Some trees are evergreen;they are called evergreen.有的树是常青的，被叫做常青树。
• There is a small evergreen shrub on the hillside.山腰上有一小块常绿灌木丛。

3 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

4 rap   

n.轻敲，拍击，责骂，厉声说出，说唱音乐，谈话，最少量；vi.轻敲，敲门，表演说唱音乐，畅谈；vt.抓，抢，拍击

参考例句：

• I heard a rap on the door.我听到有轻轻的敲门声。
• Today we are going to rap about relationships.今天我们要聊聊关系的问题。

5 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

6 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

7 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

8 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

9 rejoice   

vi.感到高兴，充满喜悦

参考例句：

• We rejoice at every victory won by your people.我们为贵国人民取得的每一个胜利都感到高兴。
• Let us rejoice together on this great occasion!在这样一个盛大的节日里，让我们共同欢庆吧！

10 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

11 oratorio   

n.神剧，宗教剧，清唱剧

参考例句：

• It's the world's most popular oratorio.这是世界上最流行的清唱剧。
• The Glee Club decided to present an oratorio during their recital.高兴俱乐部的决定提出的清唱剧在其演奏。

12 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

13 creation   

n.创造，创造的作品，产物，宇宙，天地万物

参考例句：

• Language is the most important mental creation of man.语言是人类头脑最重要的产物。
• The creation of new playgrounds will benefit the local children.新游戏场的建立将有益于当地的儿童。