For Christmas 1946, employees at a certain printing and publishing company gave their employer a recording machine — a device that recorded audio onto 78 rpm records.

Their employer, Aaron Smith, was remarkable in that he had been born with no arms toward the end of the Civil War. Yet God gave him devoted parents, a loving wife, and a strong mind.

As good steward of these things, Smith founded a number of businesses and used them to provide for himself, family, distant relatives, and friends.

I am one such distant relative — distant in time, that is. He’s my great-grandfather.

Smith was ill that Christmas in 1946, but he sent his thanks and greetings to the employees on a record created on the machine. Employees in turn recorded their Christmas party for Smith’s amusement, since he could not attend. Later recordings include various family gatherings, usually accompanied by a piano and singing.

This Christmas I’m reminded of two other voices. One was loud and heard by many, as a “multitude of the heavenly host” announced Christ’s birth to the lowly shepherds. The other was a solo confined to an animal stall — the cry of a baby, Emmanuel, God with Us.

These voices from the past still call our names and guide us.

God’s voice is found in the Bible. Smith’s voice has been preserved on that recording machine his employees gave them, which you can hear here.