Advent pt. 1

Christmas music is a comforting and catalyzing part of the Christmas season for me. I find it interesting to reflect on the words and imagine the circumstances that led to particular lyrics. For the first time, this year, I thought about "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." I'd never realized how much the song talked about peace and hearing God's message. It seems I hear so much about the Iraq "war" that my mind is distracted from the good news, and when I heard these lines, I felt that someone else had thought the same thing

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long,
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong.
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love song which they bring
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.

The third and fourth verses of the song alude to some kind of prophetic hope - I don't entirely understand it, but I want it, and I want to be able to extend that kind of hope to those who toil "with painful steps and slow." What are those "glad and golden hours"?

There's more great Christmas music and more yet to be written. I love the rich stuff.

"It Came Upon a Midnight Clear." Words by Edmund H. Sears, music by Richard Storrs Willis.

Freedom

Listening to Darrell Evans' Freedom album is kind of like getting a glimpse into heaven - you want to go there but you're kind of ashamed at your unreadiness. That's how I feel right now, anyway. I'm encouraged by what he has to say, and yet walking in that freedom and liberty are something of a mystery to me in the path I'm on right now. The title track is a joyous celebration of the freedom we have in Christ - a freedom, I think, is from shame, legalism, and sin. All of the lyrics assume a closeness to God that I believe but want to experience more in my daily life.

Great Light of the World

Bebo Norman's "Great Light of the World" talks about both God's greatness in relationship to the world and His goodness to fill up something so small as a human heart. I know my human heart doesn't feel small - it feels big to me - yet it takes some gumption and the right amount of perspective to acknowledge God's bigness and yet ask Him to "fill up my soul."

I especially like what Bebo writes about nighttime - it is at night that he feels shame and loneliness, and in the dark when he calls on the Lord's grace. I'm reminded of the saying, "In the dark night of the soul, it is always two o'clock in the morning." Those who know the Lord still have those dark nights. Those who don't know the Lord need to know - there is someone to call on.

Untitled Hymn (Come to Jesus)

This song caught me this morning, as it did the first time I heard it, in the shame of failure. I most appreciated its message of forgiveness. The forgiveness of Jesus is the most complete thing I know, and when it is put simply, well, it still says a lot.

Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for Love is passing by
Come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus and live!

Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain... so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!

Singing to Him - my privilege, my necessity, and my last resort.