I recently read this Facebook message, posted by a family member: "Abby was very excited about her new Christmas piano music. She told me all about it on the way home .... 'Mom, I got the music for Come and Yell on a Mountain!'
"Umm," her Mother replied, "Do you mean Go Tell it on the Mountain?"
Abby says: "Oh, yah, I think you're right."
As much as I love her mom and marvel at her parenting skills, in this case I tend to favour Abby's version. In the midst of all the pain of our individual and global worlds, we have many things to yell about. Here are a few reasons: we still have freedoms denied a huge part of Earth's population, girls are prohibited from getting an education and faith groups of every sector of the religious spectrum are able to meet freely (except, of course, if they are convicted of engaging in illegal activities. In that case they deserve to be yelled at ... and worse.) Not only that, McDonalds, Starbucks and Timmies operate on as many corners as consumer demand and local zoning regulation permits. Told you there were lots of different things to yell about.
There're a number of ways in which we can yell and I've probably tried them all. First, there's the yelp of pain when you stub your toe or slice the wrong piece of meat while making supper; then, there's the whoop of joy that comes with good news. Voices raised in anger are another version, whether the reasons are justified or not.
Come to think of it, the Psalmist David made a lot of noise when it came to God: "I cried aloud to Him; He was extolled and high praise was under my tongue." (Psalm 66:17). Nothing quiet there.
Here's this week's holler: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
