How do you adequately speak of something so beautiful? It is better to paint the picture or absorb the best that your imagination can paint for you. For some reason people get depressed this time of year. I know I do. I think it reminds the atheist that people still believe in at least the possibility of a God and his Love for mankind. It reminds the Christian of how much he or she HAS NOT done for others and for their family and how far they have wandered from the realization of God's love for them. When they remember and can see the Love expressed they are either humbled by how little they have done because of it or they become more hardened. This Christmas will be different. I want to bask in the wonder of the incarnation again. I don't want to hear songs about red shoes, sappy stories about indifference. I don't want to fight stores over "Holyday vs. Christmas," however important this may be. I don't want to shop till I drop at Wal-mart or any other place that is pro Christ-mas. My energy goes elsewhere this Season. I want to be in awe. I want to be humbled by that moment in History. "The dawn of Redeeming Grace." I love that line in Silent Night. Man's walk in darkness had come to an end. His yearning for the Redeemer was to be filled. God The Holy Spirit descended on a young girl and real beauty and Light entered the world.
I believe in every man there lives this faint glimmer of hope. Hope that they are not alone. It is this light that is fanned this time of the year. We give to each other and in those tiny small acts of kindness holiness is born. And holiness of any kind is from God. And the truth of God is that Christ the Savior was born.
This Christmas I want to look in wonder at that moment again. I want to sing with my brothers and sisters and the Heavenly Hosts that Christ the Savior is born. I want to kindle that Hope.
"Man is like a harp unstrung, and the music of his soul's living strings is discordant, his whole nature wails with sorrow; but the son of David, that mighty harper, has come to restore the harmony of humanity, and where his gracious fingers move among the strings, the touch of the fingers of an incarnate God brings forth music sweet as that of the spheres, and melody rich as a seraph's canticle. Would God that all men felt that divine hand." - Spurgeon
Itunes is offering a free download of Sarah McLachlan singing Silent Night. I recommend it.
6 comments:
We got Sarah McLachlan's whole Christmas album... it's pretty good... I would recommend the whole thing.
Good to know. I will probably buy it. I haven't bee to crazy about too many new Christmas renditions lately. I liked hers because it just seemed honest without TRYING to say something "new"
I mean, it's Silent Night for crying out loud. I heard one the other day that battered a Silent Night with so much production and modified vowels with "r's" that it was barely recognizable.
It sounded like this:
sirrrrrrrrlrrrrnt nirrrrrrrrrght. hrrrrrrrrrrrrrly nrrrrrrrrght. arrrrrrrrrrrll irrrs crrrrrrrrrrrrrlm. arrrrrrrrrrrll irrrrs brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrght. (gruff and nirvana-esque)
I mean, who talks like that?
Thanks for the iTunes tip. I usually check their free offerrings every week or so, and I checked yesterday. By the time I would have checked again it would have been gone. I enjoy her music, and have heard good things about this album.
I love that Spurgeon quote. I'm with you about Christmas. I've been down lately because of the commercialism. I'm tired of all of the Kay Jewelers commercials, toy commercials, etc. I've been trying not to watch too much TV, especially when the kids are awake. I'll let them watch a DVD or PBS instead...no commercials. I hate it that our society makes us feel like if we don't get our friends/family members expensive gifts that we don't love them. My sister and I are going to try to change things in our family so that the focus is on Christ, not on "What are you getting me this year?" In a time when few Americans are saving enough for retirement, etc., wouldn't it make more sense for us to buy things for ourselves when we need them (and really think about what we "need" vs. "want") and not expect others to buy them for us at Christmastime? We could still do things for family, neighbors, etc. like bake, write notes of appreciation, have our kids make crafts, or actually DO things for people to help them. Maybe we can have a Christmas revolution in America soon before things really get out of hand.
Yeah, I think I am going to give most of my Christmas money away this year. In fact, I really don't NEEED anything, really. But I know people who do.
I like this a lot, Seth. We've been having this sort of Christmas season this year too -- having fun focusing on Jesus, and not letting the other stuff get us down or distracted. It's been great so far.
I think my wife and I have had this agreement and understanding as long as we've been married, that we're not going to buy gifts for one another. It's a big relief for me, because I literally hate trying to shop and find stuff for everyone, and it's almost inevitable that you're going to end up spending a lot of money on something that's not needed, or even wanted, just for the novelty of doing it.
Our no-gifts tradition sort of goes back to something that happened early on when we were still dating. Some holiday or birthday or something came up, and I needed to buy her a gift. I couldn't think of anything, went to lots of stores, didn't know what she would like. I ended up on Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey (where I lived at the time), and bought her a glass dolphin paperweight.
When she opened it, she looked a little surprised, but was nice about it and said "Thank You", and kept it around for a few years. At some point after we had been married a little while, she told me the truth -- that she hated it, thought it was totally useless, and only kept it around to be nice to me. She asked if she could get rid of it and I said "Yes, of course."
And for us, that is sort of our running joke when it comes to buying gifts for people out of obligation rather than need. If we decide we want to get gifts for some special occasion, we simply buy what we actually want/need, and pretend that we received them from one another.
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