Back in business at last
for the Christmas sing
under the Capitol dome,

Mom and the Sweet Adelines
harmonize in Santa hats
and sparkly tops, sending
to the top of the rotunda
sounds of the season:

Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
Has come to make you new,
This child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you?

And I think of my father, who,
when hearing barbershoppers
hit a final ringing chord that
reverberated inside him, would say,
“Now that’s how it’s done,”
and, of course, that brings him
into the rotunda with us,
in the front row, applauding
as he did for all of her shows,
so many of our band concerts,

which is enough, when the familiar
lyrics of the closing song begin,
to fill my eyes and hear my voice
join in:

Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be

With God as our father
Brothers all are we
Let me walk with my brother
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me
Let this be the moment now.

With ev’ry step I take
Let this be my solemn vow
To take each moment and live
Each moment in peace eternally
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me.

—

• “Mary, Did You Know?”—lyrics Mark Lowry/ music Buddy Greene

• “Let There Be Peace on Earth”—Jill Jackson-Miller/Sy Miller, written in 1955 for the International Children’s Choir in Long Beach, California