"BEHOLD THE LAMB"...A Miracle of Love

Song adapted from I Nephi 11:13-21

(Some of the pictures shown below to illustrate this story are used without permission, and I regret that I have since lost the artist's contact information. If you are the artist, please contact me. I am currently looking for an illustrator for this story.)

THE CHRISTMAS TREASURE

A Miracle of Love

by Kaye Starr Heninger

By mid October there was a decided crispiness to the air, and I embarked on one of my walks. While watching the leaves fall from the trees, I wore a headset to hear a recording of The Book of Mormon. Soon, a longing came into my heart to write a new Christmas song, particularly one using Book of Mormon scripture.

Nephi desired to know the things that his father had seen in a dream, and he believed the Lord was able to make them known to him, also. Strangely, Nephi was just a youth at that time. The reality of that fact bore directly into my soul. Nephi saw the heavens open, and an angel came down and stood before him and asked, "Nephi, what did you see?" "A virgin, most beautiful and fair above all other virgins," was Nephi's reply to the angel. The angel also taught him that she was 'exceedingly fair and white,' introducing her as the earthly mother of the Son of God. Nephi then beheld that she was 'carried away in the Spirit' for a space of time, and then returned, 'bearing a child in her arms.'
I knew that would make a gorgeous Christmas song. I turned off my headset and listened to the rustle of the leaves as they fell to the ground. The words, 'I beheld the city of Nazareth. And in the city of Nazareth, I beheld a virgin,' were paramount in my mind as I made my way up Fernwood Drive. Amazingly, a tune came floating into my heart that fit those words. I sang it over and over to myself as I turned around and ran back down the hill.
I couldn't get home fast enough. I wanted to write that beautiful melody down before I forgot it. I ran from the piano to the table to write, then play, then write, then play, and created two pages with the following words: 'I beheld the city of Nazareth. And in that city of Nazareth, I beheld a virgin. She was fair, the most beautiful virgin above them all. She was so fair. She was exceedingly fair and white.'
When I had finished that much, I was energized and felt...in a divine way...Mary's beauty and purity.
Images of red roses and the color of all shades of pink to rose-red flooded my mind; it seemed I was experiencing pure love. I proceeded to pen words and music describing Mary's beauty.
A distinct impression told me the song should not be about Mary. Bewildered, I asked out loud, "Why not? I had experienced it; I should write it." Ignoring the prompting, I proceeded to create page three with more musical sounds to describe the Virgin Mary.
It became increasingly difficult; there was no more music. The lilting strains had vanished as quickly as they had come. Where was the beauty I had felt, and why was it so dark in the room?
The highest point of scriptural narrative in the Book of Mormon...the pinnacle of the story...is this proclamation: 'Behold the Lamb, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!' The song was supposed to be about Him, and not about Mary. Simple as that.
I started over on page three, and the music came easily. Soon after, I awoke in the middle of the night with the urgent desire to finish the piece. It was getting cold, and outside the wind was whipping through the trees. With my quilt wrapped snugly around me, I sat at the piano with my scriptures, pencil and paper, and prayed that I might receive the music I needed to represent the sound of heavenly angels. Then I waited.I prayed and fussed around on the piano for awhile, then grew weary of the late hour and my pathetic attempts. One more time I tried my right hand on the piano and "accidentally" played what I needed. It was perfect, and I quickly incorporated that melodic structure into a Soprano/Alto duet and, after a prayer of thanks, went to bed.
The story does not end there. Seven years later Brent and I went to Nazareth. This town in Israel contains many sites today which remind worshipers of important events in the life of Jesus.
One of these important places is the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel. It was built in 1781 and stands above a source of the ancient spring which feeds the "Virgin's Fountain." This is the place where many Orthodox Christians believe the Annunciation took place.
When we entered that dark church, the clamor of tourists echoed loudly and irreverently, offending the ears of our quiet little group. We watched as they pushed down the hall toward the northernmost corner of the church. Located there was a gated pipe of water...what was left of a biblical spring. Our guide gathered us away from the noise and taught us about the Angel Gabriel appearing to Mary, announcing that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World. He explained that the angel may have instructed Mary at that well, where it was customary for young girls to be found as they fetched water for their families. On a higher order, we appreciated the symbolism of the announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ taking place at a spring, or the "Fountain of Living Waters." We learned that fresh springs, bubbling down the rocky hills in Nazareth, could have been the newsy centers in the small towns of those days. Obviously, the news the Angel Gabriel brought to Mary was the best news of the world.
The noise was deafening, but I closed my eyes. I strained to hear our humble guide describe the setting and repeat the few available scriptures we have on the subject. As I listened, the racket made by the other tourists diminished, and I seemed to travel back in time to Nazareth as described in the Bible, where Mary grew up as a young girl. In my mind's eye, I "saw" the rocky hills and the clear water that bubbled around her feet. Then, for the second time in my life, I felt her beauty.
From that miracle has come a beautiful song, "Behold the Lamb." It gives us an opportunity to sing about the birth of Jesus Christ, and it sounds like love. It is "The Christmas Treasure."