He Came Upon a Midnight: Christmas hope for your mid-February

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I've never been one to limit my Christmas music to December.  As a musician, Christmas always comes in October anyway, and I don't see a reason to force it into the closet on December 26.

After all, I want Jesus to stay right by me the rest of the year, so why not His story? 

This particular holiday season was hectic for us beyond the usual programs and concerts, so I ended the year feeling like I really hadn't done the Christmas carols thing this year.  Not that I was going to do anything about it, mind you, but I did notice.

Some of my piano students agree with me about Christmas music all year; others don't.  The ones who agree get to keep their Christmas music out as long as they'd like--which is why I ended up with one student practicing Christmas through January, and why I started another one on Christmas music in February, for the reading skills, of course.

Is that what led to opening up some Christmas music and playing it during my supper preparations this evening?

Whatever made me do it, those piano sounds turned me teary-eyed pretty quickly.  

It came upon a midnight clear, 
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
"Peace on the earth, good will to men, 
From heaven's all-gracious King;"
The world in solemn stillness lay,
To hear the angels sing.

My heart once more had no words, no words for the dear ones I know who right now suffer fear, worry, anxiety, sickness.  

Still through the cloven skies they come,
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O'er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever o'er its Babel sounds
The blessed angels sing. 

And once more, my prayer, my hopes for them ascended high, pleading that these same angels would come and brighten the path for my dear ones.  

And ye, beneath life's crushing load, 
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow--
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing;
O rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing. 

Once more through a hymn words of faith crept into my mind, offering their hope not just to me, but to my dear ones, too.

After all, Jesus still offers rest beside the weary road, even if it's February instead of December.

White Christmas South Texas Style

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Christmas morning, we woke up without a particular schedule for the day.  Sure, we had a rough idea of what might happen as the day progressed, but the day also had a clean canvass feel to it.  So when I knew for sure we were both awake, I said, "Let's go to La Sal."

La Sal del Rey (or "the salt of the king") has become our favorite outdoor getaway here in South Texas, for its quiet (completely removed even from road noise) and its solitude (we've only encountered another human being there once).  It's one of several salt lakes in the area from which people and nations mined their salt for hundreds of years, and now serves as a wildlife refuge.

We thought we'd be early enough to catch a glimpse of more birds and animals than usual if we simply rolled out of bed and got in the car, and that's essentially what we did.  Although we didn't make it in time for sunrise, we saw larger flocks of birds with more variety than we see in our afternoon visits, and countless deer of two different kinds.

The crusted salt crystals on the shore of the lake, complete with bird prints, remind me a little of a light dusting of snow, or a heavy frost.  We joked that this would be the closest thing to a white Christmas we would see this year.

We could hear even more birds than we could see.  I'm not sure I've figured out the name of these little birds, but we love them nonetheless.  I think we see some every time we go, and since they're quick movers it has been hard to get a photo of them.

The salt crystals you see above are actually under the water.  We usually don't see them in crystal form under the water, but we think perhaps there had been a recent enough rain that they had not dissolved just yet.  They were washed around a little by the waves, and we could see several ridges like the ones here.

The salt had inclosed this little twig , almost making it look like it had been in its own ice storm.  Of course it hadn't, but in the cool, lower-50s temperatures on Christmas morning, we liked to imagine familiar things, such as how it feels to be cold.

I particularly enjoyed our morning outing, because it gave us the chance to feed two of our great delights in one day--the delight of being out in the open air, surrounded by nature and its sounds, getting a bit of exercise right at the start of the day; as well as the delight of spending time with friends, connecting with people around a delicious Christmas dinner later in the day.  

We don't tend to create traditions and commit to them, but if we end up with anything resembling a tradition, it usually happens a little like our Christmas morning.  We have an idea, we go do something, we enjoy it, and we think to ourselves how nice it would be to do that idea, that thing, again.  Then we do, again and again, and it becomes something of a habit.  In fact, our tradition of singing Love at Home at the close of each Sabbath (well, almost each Sabbath) started this way.  We sang a hymn at random; then we liked it, and it stuck.

Maybe our spontaneous Christmas morning adventure will catch on too, and we'll do more of it in the future.  At the moment, I rather like that idea.

Sing We All of Christmas (2012 Series)

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Last year, I wrote a series featuring twenty-five Christmas carols.

Most of it was posted from my phone, and at that point I hardly knew anything about my phone camera (which I used for the series photos), so the posts aren't as polished as I'm learning to make them look now.

However, I still love the carols, and I love everything I learned from and about them last year, so I thought it would still be fun to look back through them during these last few days before Christmas.  There's still plenty of time to sing them around the piano, especially if you're like me and you give yourself a wide margin for Christmas carols after the day has passed.

So if you're interested, just click the button above, or the one on the sidebar, and enjoy!

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas Trees Past

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(This is not a photo of our real Christmas tree.  I don't have that decorated yet, so you're getting a view of what I do have done, on top of the piano.  I'm hoping you'll see some photos of the real tree soon.)

We bought a Christmas tree yesterday.  As I confessed to my friend in the north land, I have never bought a Christmas tree in flip flops before.  (I was in the flip flops; the tree wasn't.)  It was 75 degrees F, on December 18.

They played lovely music in the tree stand--not the blaring "music" they play in the grocery store or Walmart, but real Christmas carols with orchestras and choirs and even children's choirs.  I thanked the man for having good taste.

They did not offer hot drinks at the Christmas tree stand.  Lemonade would have been more appropriate for the weather.

When I was growing up, we always had a real tree (except the year when my mom had just had surgery...that story in a minute).  Many times, we bought it at lots near the grocery store; one year, my dad and I bought one on Christmas eve for super cheap because we just hadn't gotten to it before then.

Then I had this idea that it would be fun to cut our own tree, and my family went along with it.  Or, different parts of the family went along with it different years.  One year, my mom and I headed out on our own to the snowy farm to select our dream tree, enjoyed the free hot chocolate, loaded our treasure in the back of the truck, and started for home.

"Where's the tree?" my dad and brother wanted to know.  "In the truck," we said.

But it wasn't.

Back along the road we went, until there in the huge bank of snow that had given it a soft landing we found it, unharmed.

We didn't go cut a tree the year my mom had surgery a few weeks before Christmas.  No one else had bothered to get a tree (although I probably had one at my house a few hours away, cut for five dollars in the woods), so we dug out the fake ones from the garage.  We didn't normally use the fake ones from Goodwill for anything other than porch decor, but this time we thought we'd group them inside the house, just to have something.

Well, our cats spent a lot of time in the garage during the cold winters, and the trees weren't in the house long before we realized they'd been marked.  I don't remember if we got a real tree with a nice pine scent to replace them, but we didn't let those trees back in the house again!

I wouldn't call myself a die-hard when it comes to having a Christmas tree.  Some (or most) years, I have one, or enjoy one at family members' houses.  Other years, I do fine without one.  

Yet I enjoy bringing a festive bit of nature and beauty indoors, though, almost like a giant bouquet of fresh-cut flowers, and I don't picture myself ever committing to a fake tree.

That's why, when I lived in a place where I could cut a Christmas tree in the woods for a mere $5, I rallied friends every year to go out for an afternoon of snowy fresh air to find my little treasure.  Some years, it was an assortment of college friends; another year, it was a brave couple with their baby bundled on a sled (yes, a brave mama indeed!); another year, it was my future in-laws and some of their extended family.

Eventually, my brother did catch on to the festivities of cutting his own tree, too.  As my mom later confessed, it's dangerous sending a couple of sanguines out on an errand like that.  Because, you see, the cut-your-own lot they found was selling any size of tree for the same price, and it was my parents' first year in a house whose living room's ceiling could accommodate any size of tree they could find at the lot.  If the tree fits, why not cut it?

"Do you think we can tie it to the car without denting the roof?" they asked each other, after cutting the tree down.  Not to worry, though, the tree lot truck would be happy to deliver it, and leave it in the front yard.

Then the only dilemma would be getting it into the house.  A tall tree is also a w-i-d-e tree, and it won't fit through the door.

Two sanguines, however, are just the kind of people to have this problem, because when they are struggling with the tree in the front yard, and the husband and wife passers-by out for their daily walk ask if they need help, they don't feign independence like my father and I would do, but rather take it as a great opportunity to meet new friends.

"Yes!  We do need help!"

It takes all four to carry the tree around the back, and through the wider sliding glass door.  It turns out the wife's name is Esther, who, according to my brother, was sent for just such a time as this.

I know some people don't like the idea of buying a live tree or cutting one, because if we're environmentally inclined, after all, we should be planting trees, not destroying them.  But I don't mind being part of the forest's service's management program, or buying a tree that was grown particularly to be the delightful beauty in the corner of my living room.  They're already making plans to plant more trees right where that one grew.

And while I try to avoid the commercialism that says Christmas decor needs to be fresh and new every year, or that it needs to be fancy or expensive or extravagant, I love the chance I have to add a festive touch to my home.  Especially when it reminds me of the One who made the trees for me to enjoy.

Sing We All of Christmas: Our Lamb is Born

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This one is brand new.  I wrote the text, and my dear husband wrote the music.  (Copyright 2012).  Leave a comment with your e-mail address, and I'll send you a PDF of the score.

Born in a manger, He
Came among creatures who
Knew not His mission to
Die as my Lamb on my tree.

Suffering my shame is
The only way He can
Earn the position as
My only hope to find

Peace on the earth and
Good will to men.

Lambs in the stable see
God born as man and a
Lamb, one of me, one of
Them, the one Shepherd.  He

Leads me beside the still
Waters.  My cup over-
Flows with His goodness for
Unworthy me.

He gives peace on the earth and
Good will to men.

Sing We All of Christmas: As With Gladness Men of Old

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I love it when hymns and carols tell the truth of Jesus and also relate it to my journey today.  And I love it when they remind me of the joy it is to come to Jesus.

As with gladness men of old
Did the guiding star behold,
As with joy they hailed its light,
Leading onward, beaming bright,
So, most gracious Lord, may we
Evermore be led to Thee.

As with joyful steps they sped
To that lowly manger bed,
There to bend the knee before
Him whom heav'n and earth adore,
So may we with willing feet
Ever seek Thy mercy seat.

As they offered gifts most rare
At that manger rude and bare,
So may we with holy joy,
Pure, and free from sin's alloy,
All our costliest treasures bring,
Christ, to Thee our heav'nly King.

Holy Jesus, every day
Keep us in the narrow way;
And, when earthly things are past,
Bring our ransomed souls at last
Where they need ko star to guide,
Where no clouds Thy glory hide.

Tune DIX (more familiarly set to "For the Beauty of the Earth") from Conrad Kocher, arranged here by Melvin West; text alluding to Matthew 2:1-11 by William C. Dix; SDA Hymnal 123.

Sing We All of Christmas: Angels We Have Heard on High

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One bit of musical knowledge you should have about this carol is that it is "macaronic", or has two languages (Latin and English) in the same piece.  Isn't that a fun word?

The Latin part of the text, "Gloria in excels is Deo", means "Glory to God in the highest!". And of course we know who sang it first (the angels), although they probably didn't sing in Latin or English.

Put together with the verses, the carol as a whole voices the shepherds' story of hearing the angels sing, alternated with questions asked by their listeners.

People who sing parts love to sing this--all the parts are interesting, and together indeed make a glorious sound.

Angels we have heard on high,
Singing sweetly through the night,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their brave delight.

Refrain:
Gloria in excels is Deo,
Gloria in excels is Deo.

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why these songs of happy cheer?
What great brightness did you see?
What glad tidings did you hear?

Refrain

Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing;
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ, the Lord, the newborn King.

Refrain

See Him in a manger laid
Whom the angels praise above;
Mary, Joseph, lend your aid,
While we raise our hearts in love.

Refrain

Tune GLROIA, a French carol arranges by Edward Shippen Barnes; text taken in part from Luke 2:13-17, a French carol translated in "Crown of Jesus" and adapted herd by Earl Marlatt; SDA Hymnal 143; see also the Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal.

Sing We All of Christmas: O Come, O Come, Immanuel

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Tonight, dwell on this thought:  God came to be with us.  And since He came so long ago, He can be with us even now.  While I can't take away the griefs and crimes of the world, I know a God who promised to be with me and with you even until the end of the age (which is when He will come again).

O come, O come, Immanuel,
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:
Rejoice!  Rejoice!  Immanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou wisdom from on high,
And order all things, far and high;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And cause us in her ways to go.

Refrain

O come, Desire of nations, bind
All people in one heart and mind;
Bid envy, strife, and quarrels cease;
Fill the whole world with heaven's peace.

Refrain

Text translated by John M. Neale and Henry S. Coffin; tune VENI EMMANUEL, fifteenth century French processional; SDA Hymnal 115.

Sing We All of Christmas: Silent Night

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Many of you probably know how this carol came to be:  the malfunctioning organ, the text written and given to the organist to write a tune, the plan for guitar accompaniment.

Sometimes the things that are in disrepair in in our lives can breed blessing, no?

I've wondered sometimes whether it really was a silent night, but it seems that quiet or not, our pondering of that holy birth brings with it an awed and grateful silence.

For unlike many of the carols we've loomed at already, this one pauses beside the manger, an ear turned to the hills where the angels sing. 

We pause to see Jesus sleeping, tended by Mary.  We pause from a distance to see the shepherds and hear the angels.  We pause as we turn back to this Savior-Baby.  We pause to sing His praise.

Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright;
Round yon virgin mother and Child!
Holy Infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

Silent night, holy night,
Darkness flies, all is light;
Shepherds hear the angels sing,
"Alleluia! Hail the King!
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born."

Silent night, holy night,
Son of God, loves pure light;
Radiant beams from Thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth,
Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth.

Silent night, holy night,
Wondrous star, lend thy light;
With the angels let us sing,
Alleluia to our King;
Christ the Savior is born,
Christ the Savior is born.

Text by Joseph Mohr and translated from the German (in this case) by John F. Young; tune STILLE NACHT by Franz Gruber.

Sing We All of Christmas: Angels from the Realms of Glory

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Angels have seen a lot to weep about, and I'm sure they must sometimes.  I think they weep over senseless meanness and killing, over unhappy families, over suffering.  At least, I would if I were them.

How much more of sin and sorrow they see than we do, how much more they realize how far we have sunk.

Perhaps it was with a special joy, then, that they sang to the shepherds.  A joy that only comes when they're telling people about the Savior.  A joy you and I can experience with them.

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
He, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth;

Chorus:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing;
Yonder shines the Infant Light;

Chorus

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star;

Chorus

Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord descending,
In His temple shall appear;

Chorus

SDA hymnal 119; text by James Montgomery; REGENT SQUARE, tune, by Henry Smart.

Sing We All of Christmas: Joy to the World

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This one hardly needs explanation, but I do encourage you to ponder the words afresh.

Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.

No more let sin and sorrow grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, and wonders of His love.

Text by Isaac Watts; tune ANTIOCH arranged from Handel's Messiah by Lowell Mason.  SDA Hymnal 125.

Photo taken about twenty-five minutes before sundown today atop the Massanutten ridge.

Sing We All of Christmas: O Come, All Ye Faithful

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Tonight, a standard favorite, one I memorized in early elementary school for a Christmas program (as part of a choir).

Was it then that I discovered I loved being in choir?  Maybe it was.  I still do love being in choir.  {Need to find one...}

Let this joy and triumph fill your skies tonight, because when Jesus comes, evil must flee.

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem!
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels!

Refrain:
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Jim,
Christ the Lord.

Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation,
O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!
Glory to God, all glory in the highest!

(Refrain)

Yea, Lord we greet Thee, born this happy morning,
Jesus to Thee be all glory given;
Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!

(Refrain)

ADESTE FIDELES, tune, appeared in John F. Walter's Cantus Diversity, 1751; anonymous text translated from Latin by Frederick Oakeley (and others); SDA Hymnal 132.

*Today the wind was sweeping the clouds and sunlight as I came out of the library laden with books.  I didn't put them down to snap the photo.

Sing We All of Christmas: Memory Challenge and O Little Town of Bethlehem

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Have you noticed how the things you have in your memory come to mind when you need them?  And sometimes when you least expect them?  And maybe even when you don't want them to come back at all?

There was a time in my life when I realized how important memory can be.  It was a combination of things, really.

One thing was the story of a church being invaded by police on a racist mission.  A woman started to sing, and others joined her, "taking the space".

I hardly remember the outcome, but one idea played over and  over in my mind:  That woman must have memorized songs of praise.  Otherwise, how could she have had the immediate response of song in possibly one of the most stressful events of her life?

Another thing that got me thinking was a tragedy that happened near my home, to a friend of a friend.  He had been doing a routine fitness test, and collapsed with a heart problem.

He was rushed to the hospital, and a pastor colleague visited him, singing hymns by the bedside just hours before his death.

I immediately wondered what I would sing to a dying man and his wife in the hospital room.  Did I have words in my mind that would sooth, point to the Savior, remind of heavenly hope?

Or was my mind filled with the useless chatter on the radio? 

I began memorizing hymns.  And large chunks of Scripture.  I never knew when I might need to encourage someone, and that someone has so often been myself.

So here's the Christmas memory challenge.  Chose a favorite Christmas carol that reminds you of something Jesus is promising you right now.  Memorize it, and tell me how it goes.  Share the challenge with a friend, and encourage each other in the memory work.

You may think you don't have time to memorize.  But guess what?  You can keep the hymnal in the bathroom and sing your song--or one verse over and over--while you blow dry your hair every morning (for example).  No one will hear you singing, and it will be great encouragement for your day.  I've done this.  :)

I'm choosing O Little Town of Bethlehem.

O little town of Bethlehem,
How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary;
And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the Angels keep
Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together
Proclaim the Holy birth!
And praises sing to God the King,
And peace to man on earth.

How silently, how silently
The wondrous gift is given!
So God imparts to human hearts
The blessings of His heaven.
No ear may hear His coming;
But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in--
Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell--
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!

Text by Phillips Brooks; ST. LOUIS tune by L. H. Render; SDA Hymnal 135.

Sing We All of Christmas: Now is Born the Divine Christ Child

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Some would read the title of this Carol and immediately question:  Was Jesus divine, or was He simply a good man?

To this, I point to Scripture, in many places, but in particular the few below.  These are some of the first reasons I personally believe with all my heart that Jesus is and was indeed fully divine (as well as fully human).

"Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us.". Matthew 1:23

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth.". John 1:1, 14 (see also the verses in between).

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.". Isaiah 9:6

(Refrain)
Now is born the divine Christ child,
Play the musette, play the tuneful oboe,
Now is born the divine Christ child,
Sing we all and rejoice this day.

He was born in a stable bare,
On bed of straw how Be sleeps so soundly,
He was born in a stable bare,
Let us worship and to Him bow.

(Refrain)

Ages long since are past and gone,
When the wise men foretold His coming,
Ages long since are past and gone,
When the wise men foretold His birth.

(Refrain)

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 133; text is a traditional French carol; melody IL EST NE is an 18th century French carol, arranged in this hymnal by Wayne Hooper.

Photo documents some events in our kitchen today.

Sing We All of Christmas: Go, Tell it on the Mountain

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Christmas is all about evangelism.

Jesus came to save me, and He came to save you, and He wanted us to know.

That we can have victory over our sins.  That He will come back for us.  That He paid it all on the cross.  That "Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrow." 

That we can come unto Him to find rest.

From sin.  From grief.  From pain.

If you have been rescued from these things, and you know of someone still suffering from them, under the crushing load, don't you have every desire to tell?

Chorus:
Go, tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and everywhere:
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born!

While shepherds kept their watching
O'er silent flocks by night,
Behold throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light.

(Chorus)

The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior's birth.

(Chorus)

Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born,
And God sent us salvation
That blessed Christmas morn.

(Chorus)

Sing We All of Christmas: Our School's Sacred Concert

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Just got home from a glorious sacred Christmas concert put on by my husband and our orchestra colleague.  (They let us piano teachers participate in the prelude music, which was great!)

So instead of writing about one Christmas Carol tonight, I'll send you over for a whole evening of praise and gratitude for the gift of Jesus.

{You might have to cut and paste into your browser, since I'm new at blogging from my phone, and I don't know if it will show up as a clickable link or not.}

http://new.livestream.com/svaonline/events/1738810

Sing We All of Christmas: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

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This week, my colleague and I are playing Christmas duets as prelude to our (private) school's sacred Christmas concert.  Although I haven't disliked it before, it wasn't until our practice sessions that this carol took on special sparkle for me.  There's just something triumphant about it that I hadn't noticed as much before.

And as I re-read the text, I find in it the depth of mercy offered only by God Himself, in all its beauty.

Hrak! The herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King; 
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful all ye nations rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"

Chorus:
Hark the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heaven adored,
Christ the everlasting Lord;
In the manger born a king,
While adoring angels sing,

"Peace on earth to men goodwill;"
Bid the trembling soul be still,
Christ on earth has come to dwell,
Jesus our Emmanuel!

Hail the heaven born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Life and Light to all he brings
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die,
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal 122; text by Charles Wesley; tune MENDELSSOHN, arranged from Mendelssohn's work by William H. Cummings.

Photo of farm field in winter near my home.  Perhaps like the shepherds would have been in if they had been from Virginia.

Sing We All of Christmas: Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

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Have you ever stopped to think about what it means for Christ to have been holy....and....lowly?

And how you and I are to follow that exact pattern of holiness....and lowliness?  Of humility and service and never-tiring self-sacrifice?  (Like when he took His disciples to a quiet place to rest, only to be followed by literally thousands of people needing help, and He patiently taught, healed and fed until the day was done.)

Sounds exhausting, doesn't it?  Impossible?

Maybe He offers the strength to keep serving when the stress mounts.  When it's hard to get anything done, let alone everything.  Maybe He offers the wisdom when it's hard to know whether to say yes or say no.  Maybe that's when (or part of when) His strength is made perfect in weakness. 

Especially when we are [doing laundry, teaching lessons, washing dishes, unpacking boxes, getting exercise, raising kids, going to work, helping with the children's ministries at church...or whatever it is that you do and I do] for His glory and with His purposes in mind and at heart.

With humility.

Bearing the fruits of the Spirit because we ask for the Spirit and accept the Spirit and all He offers by faith.

Then, in holiness.

Like Jesus.  The "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly."

Infant holy, infant lowly,
For His bed a cattle stall;
Oxen lowing, little knowing
Christ the babe is Lord of all;
Swift are winging angels singing,
Noels ringing, tidings bringing,
Christ the babe is Lord of all,
Christ the babe is Lord of all.

Flocks were sleeping, shepherds keeping
Vigil till the morning new;
Saw the glory, heard the story,
Tidings of the gospel true;
Thus rejoicing, free from sorrow,
Praises voicing greet the morrow,
Christ the babe was born for you,
Christ the babe was born for you.

Sing We All of Christmas: Away in a Manger

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Tonight, now that the sun has set a d the time for bed draws closer, consider afresh these beautiful words of an anonymous prayer.

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where He lay,
The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus no crying He makes.
I love Thee, Lord Jesus!  Look down from the sky,
And stay by my side till the morning is high.

Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask Thee to stay
Close by me forever, and love me, I pray.
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care,
And fit us for heaven to live with Thee there.

(Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal 124; text Anonymous; tune CRADLE SONG, William J. Kirkpatrick.)

Sing We All of Christmas: Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light

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The five people who crafted this hymn's text and tune and brought it to its current state spanned nearly four hundred years, and were all given some form of the name John:  John, Johann, Johnson.  Arranged by Johann Sebastian Bach, each line has the interest and movement of seen in his famous four-part chorales.

Some of us long for sunlight in winter, but this hymn speaks of a Light we can have any time, no matter how dense the fog that seems to surround us.

Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light,
And usher in the morning;
Ye shepherds, shrink not with affright,
But hear the angel's warning.

This Child, now weak in infancy,
Our confidence and joy shall be,
The power of Satan breaking,
Our peace eternal making.

Break forth, O beauteous heavenly light,
Go herald our salvation;
He stoops to earth--the God of might,
Our hope and expectation.

He comes in human flesh to dwell,
Our God with us, Immanuel,
The night of darkness breaking,
Our fallen race befriending.

(Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, 128; v.1 text by Johann Wrist; v.2 text by Norman E. Johnson; ERMUNTRE DICH, tune, by Johann Schop; arranged by J. S. Bach; v.1 translated by John Troutbeck.)

(Winter photo of light reflecting on the river nearby.)