All is Calm. All is Bright.
I have a favorite slogan which dates back to World War II. “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON.”
At our Christmas Eve service we will probably sing that lovely carol, “Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright”. By that time in the Christmas season I am wondering if I will be feeling calm, let alone bright! Rush, rush, rush, get it all done, cards, gifts, parties. Help!
I’m going to seek the calm that was there in Bethlehem that first Christmas Eve, and this is how I imagine it in our modern parlance. What must it have been like on that night?
After the long trip to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph found that they did not have a hotel room, no Holiday Inn or Marriott. They had to make do with a stable, and not a nice clean stable, but one shared with the farm animals. But CALM prevailed. The star shone overhead.
Mary’s delivery may not have been easy, many first pregnancies are not. Who was there to help her? Was there a midwife available? Did Joseph know how to help bring this new life (in every sense of the word) into the world? Yet peace and CALM prevailed.
Over this seemingly difficult scene God’s great love triumphed as it does for each one of us when we seek His peace and CALM.
For each of us the Advent season can be a time when, if we ask it of Him, our heavenly Father, that same peace and love will calm us and our hearts will know the true spirit of Christmas. In the words of the hymn, “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin in me.” Amen
Jean Dean
1 comment:
At our church we sing that hymn at the close of church every Sunday, but those last few words never sank in my consciousness until reading your devotional, Let it begin with me. Thank you.
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