We all have our favorite Christmas carols to sing. I tend to lean toward the carols that
highlight the mystery and awe of the coming Messiah. I also like the music of a carol to match that
same sense of mystery and wonder. The
carol, for me, that best captures this message and tune is “Let All Mortal
Flesh Keep Silence”. The opening verse
says so much about our need as humans for a presence to help us that is beyond
our own human capabilities. The first verse
reads:
Let all
mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
Ponder
nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in his hand
Christ our
God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.
The pending arrival of our Savior calls us to silence. The arrival invites us to stop the noise of
our lives to take the moments necessary to receive this gift from God that is
not of this world but comes to this world to show us God’s unconditional
love. This message alone is worthy of
our silence. Our minds, when we think of
the coming birth, urge us to consider that which is greater than what we find
on earth. The “holy other” that we
worship is soon to be with us in human form.
This coming presence not only demands our full attention but as the hymn
says our full homage, our full reverence.
The season of Advent and Christmas invites us to be at our
very best during one of the holiest times of year. The silence that the hymn invites us to claim
is necessary to not miss the sounds of the holy one in our midst.
My hope for all of us as we enter this sacred season is to
time moments to rest, to breathe, to be silent so we can fully embrace all that
God desires for us. My hope for us is to
not get too distracted by the noise and pace of our cultural chaos during
December. If we are silent long enough
we might just find ourselves thinking deeply about how God wants us to honor
Christ with our daily lives.
Grace and Peace,
