Lower Still

We had a really spectacular sermon at church last Sunday. Ray preached on how Christmas is about the humility of God; how low he came to make himself like us, to be among us, to save us. And yet being born to young Mary in the dusty dark of a Bethlehem barn was just the beginning of Christ's humility. He would come lower still. As low as you've ever been, Christ went lower in order in love you into the arms of God. Ray read the lyrics of a song by the band My Epic. They moved me so much, I just had to share them here.

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"Lower Still"

Look, he's covered in dirt
the blood of his mother has mixed with the Earth
and she's just a child who's throbbing in pain
from the terror of birth by the light of a cave

Now they've laid that small baby
where creatures come eat
like a meal for the swine, who have no clue that he
is still holding together the world that they see
they don't know just how low he has to go
Lower still

Look now he's kneeling, he's washin' their feet
though they're all filthy fishermen, traitors, and theives
now he's pouring his heart out and they're fallin' asleep
but he has to go lower still

there is greater love to show
hands to the plow
further down now
blood must flow

all these steps are personal
all his shame is ransom
oh do you see, do you see just how low, he has come
do you see it now?
no one takes from him
what he freely gives away

beat in his face
tear the skin off his back
Lower still, lower still
strip off his clothes
make him crawl through the streets
Lower still, lower still
hang him like meat
on a criminal's tree
Lower still, lower still
bury his corpse in the Earth
like a seed, like a seed, like a seed
Lower still, lower still

Lower still, lower still...

The Earth explodes
she cannot hold him!
And all therein is placed beneath Him
and death itself no longer reigns
it cannot keep the ones he gave himself to save
and as the universe shatters the darkness disolves
he alone will be honored
we will bathe in his splendor
as all heads bow lower still
all heads bow lower still

Don't Play That Game

There's a game I've been playing with myself since Hudson was born.

It's called, "Maybe He'll Be Happy When."

First I thought, "Maybe he'll be happy when we finally get the hang of this breastfeeding thing."

Then, "Maybe he'll be happy when we get his reflux under control."

And, "Maybe he'll be happy when he hits 12 weeks."

Or, "Maybe he'll be happy when I get better at figuring out what he wants."

There's always, "Maybe he'll be happy when he gets out of this growth spurt."

Now that most of those milestones have come and gone, I've recently switched to "Maybe he'll be happy when he can move around more independently," or "Maybe he'll be happy when he can start eating solids."

Maybe next week. Maybe next month. Maybe then.

And I try not to think about it, but it crawls in when things are falling apart and I'm holding a sobbing, red-faced, angry-sad baby at 3:37 am...

Maybe... maybe he'll never be happy.

Oh sure, he has happy moments. Happy hours, and sometimes even whole mostly-happy days. If you catch him then, he's got a gummy grin that keeps going and going, creating this little dimple right by his nose. And if you work really hard for it with some tickling and well-placed raspberries on the tummy, he's got a laugh that sounds like a squeaker toy.

But in general, "happy" is not an adjective I'd use to describe my little guy. He is many things, for better and for worse, but right now "happy" is not one of them. And maybe it never will be.

But maybe instead of playing the "maybe" game, I need to stop.

Stop comparing him to other babies.

Stop wishing he would be different.

Stop feeling jealous of friends for whom motherhood appears to be a glowing, glorious, easy experience.

Stop asking God to change Hudson and make him happy.

Instead, I must start asking God to change me. To make me more like Jesus, who loves me just as I am, so I can love Hudson, just as he is.

My baby is just that - a baby. Helpless and weak, despite how big and strong he sometimes seems to me. Dependent on me for everything. Looking to me for love and affection and encouragement and guidance, so he can grow and mature.

I am a woman. Now a mother. I am the one who must change - or rather, be changed. I am the one who can pray for us, for grace and strength in our hour of need. I am the one who must learn to sacrifice so I can serve my son. I am the one who needs to repent and set aside the "maybe" thoughts to which I unfairly hold my boy.

Oh God, that you would come near to us, to me and Huddy. Forgive me for being hard-hearted, and angry, and jealous, and self-pitying, and forgive me on his behalf, since he's too small to understand. Please help me to be more like Jesus. Please help me to love my baby just as he is. Please give me more and more grace, until at last it overflows in love and kindness and patience toward my son. Protect and guard him as he grows. I pray for the day of his salvation, that Hudson would be a man after your own heart. I pray that through our struggles, you would be glorified. I am so thankful and humbled that you have made me a mother. I am so thankful for Hudson. I repent of having an ungrateful heart. I repent of being unloving. I ask for more of you, and less of me.

One Month With You

My Sweet Huddy Bean,

Can you believe it has already been a month since you were born? It hardly seems possible that in such a short time you have changed so much, right before my eyes.

It's been rough at times, hasn't it? Like those hours spent holding your stiffened little body while you screamed in discomfort, your cry growing more frantic the more I tried to console you. I don't think that scene was ever in the idealized vision of motherhood that I'd carried around like an idol in my heart all these years. Neither were those moments when I'd weep over you as I struggled to get you to breastfeed, my tears falling on your squirming, frustrated face. Many times before I'd wondered judgmentally why someone wouldn't breastfeed their baby; now I found myself wondering who would judge me if I couldn't even make it one month.

I wanted to be your momma for a long time, my dear one. I was consumed with it, at times. And heart-wrenchingly, yet tenderly, God has used this past month to teach me that in my own power and strength I am capable of very little, much less the momentous task of being someone's mother. For such a role as that, God is showing me that nothing less than His strength will suffice. I would use motherhood to bask in my own glory and success; God has used it to gently drive me to my knees in humility.

I've never prayed so hard and so fervently as in this past month, most times accompanied with tears of desperate need. I tacked up these verses on the wall next to our rocking chair, and I read them to us in our hardest times:

"How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears, He will answer you." Isaiah 30:19

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; and the flame shall not consume you." Isaiah 43:1-2

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young." Isaiah 40:11

"So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

To be a mother is harder than I thought. But to love you, my baby, is as easy as if I have been doing it my whole life. I could bear hours of crying for just one of your toothless in-my-sleep smiles, or the drunken look on your face when you fall asleep nursing with a little drop of milk running out of your mouth. For the funny expression you make right before you poop. For the superman stretch you do when we try to swaddle you. For the snuggly moments when we nap together. For the softness of your skin, for the curl of your toes. For the way your Daddy loves you, for the way my heart feels like it might grow wings and fly right out of my chest when I see you two together. For your bright little eyes studying me when I read to us from your special Bible. For these moments - for even just one of them, just once - I can bear the hard times. And for the glory of God, I am finding divine purpose in my weakness.

So there will be tears - yours and mine. In fact, as I type this, you have finally gone to sleep after a three-hour inconsolable spell. We both cried a lot today. But God was in it, baby. We are his little lambs, you and I, gathered close to the heart of the Father in our distress. And so we learn to be grateful for whatever brings us near to Him.

I love you, my son. One month with you - only the beginning.

Love always,

Momma

Pride & Humility

Can I just copy the entire chapter "The Great Sin" from Mere Christianity? If that book intimidates you in jumping in from Page 1 - and it does me, I've still never made it straight through from beginning to end - go and get a copy and just start with this chapter. Or at least read these excerpts and know there is much, much more. It gets me every time. "Thank goodness I'm not proud! Wait, dang it, I totally am." Thanks, Mr. Lewis.

'There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others... In fact, if you want to find out how proud you are the easiest way is to ask ourself, 'How much do I dislike it when other people snub me, or refuse to take any notice of me, or shove their oar in, or patronise me, or show off?' The point is that each person's pride is in competition with every one else's pride... [Pride] is competitive by its very nature... Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man... It is the comparison that makes you proud.

[Pride] comes direct from hell. It is purely spiritual: consequently it is far more subtle and deadly. For the same reason, Pride can often be used to beat down the simpler vices... [at this] the devil laughs. He is perfectly content to see you becoming chaste and brave and self-controlled provided, all the time, he is setting up in you the Dictatorship of Pride... For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.

The real black, diabolical Pride, comes when you look down on others so much that you do not care what they think of you. Of course, it is very right, and often our duty, not to care what people think of us, if we do so for the right reason; namely, because we care so incomparably more what God thinks. But the Proud man has a different reason for not caring. He says, 'Why should I care for the applause of that rabble as if their opinion were worth anything? And even if their opinions were of value, am I the sort of man to blush with pleasure at a compliment...? No, I am an integrated, adult personality. All I have done has been done to satisfy my own ideals - or my artistic conscience - or the traditions of my family...'

The point is, [God] wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble - delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life.

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all."

A Wedding; A Marriage

I don't know if you heard, but there was a wedding this weekend.

In what was probably the most-hyped wedding since that of his own parents, Prince William married his long-time girlfriend Kate Middleton on Friday. The ceremony was watched around the world, by over 20 million just in the United States. Including me. That's right, I crawled out of bed before 5am and turned on the TV just in time to see the bride emerge from her car in front of the church. She was, in a word, stunning. This is my favorite picture of her in that moment. Just about to become a princess.

You got a sense during the ceremony - as much as one can "sense" these things about two people they don't know, through a television set - that they were truly in love and happy to be marrying each other. With my apologies to Will for the unflattering angle, look how cute and smiley they were at the altar:

It turned out to be a marriage-centered weekend on the whole. Friday night, Ben came home after being gone all week in Los Angeles. Really in a way he was coming home from being mostly gone for two months, entrenched in work that kept him away almost all day (and half the night) every day for March and April. It was fitting that the first thing we did together on Saturday was attend a marriage seminar at church, led by our pastor Ray and his wife Jani. Then today, Ray preached on marriage again. There were so many sweet, convicting, and encouraging truths about marriage revealed and reinforced over these two days. I thought I would share just a few of these thoughts here. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did! (If it seems a little lopsided toward advice for women, that's just because I was writing what seemed most pertinent to me in my notes! Don't worry, they spent equal time instructing the guys. I tried to catch some of that too!)

Genesis 2:18-25

*Marriage was a gift from God in the garden. It speaks to how highly He values it that he allowed humanity to retain the blessing of marriage even after the fall.

*A wife is one of the chief vehicles for her husband to receive goodness from the Lord. A high and holy calling.

*The woman is called helper. It is not a small or demeaning label! In scripture, God himself is called our Help and our Helper! A helper is someone who is able to give support from a position of strength, in the fullness of her experience, wisdom, and talents.

*To be married is to have a "one-flesh" relationship: one mortal life fully shared. One story. One reputation. One ministry. One victory.

Ephesians 5:22-33

*Submission is a word women fear, but it needn't be. It is not a demeaning human social invention. It began in heaven, and culminated when Christ submitted to the will of the Father. When frightened by the noble calling of submission, PRAY. Ask God for the strength to trust that He ordered things correctly.

*It is voluntary, not a demand from a husband. It is a gracious adaptability. It is deference over defiance. It is an offering to God when we yield in love - as Christ yielded before the will of the Father. It has nothing to do with weakness or not being able to communicate together.

*I can seek to live above my feelings, so they don't dictate my commitment.

*A Christian husband enriches the splendor of his wife's life. Because of his love, she becomes more formidable in the hand of God. He nourishes and cherishes his wife. He is a conduit of Jesus' divine love for her.

*Don't be fooled by the commonality of marriage in human existence. The marriage of two believers is a revelation of the gospel on display.

*No woman wants to have to earn her husband's love. In the same way, wives can give their husbands respect as a gift, not as something to be earned. They will understand respect as love.

How the Gospel Changes Marriage

*A law-consumed husband/wife says "_______ or else." Remember this, say this, provide this, do this, or else. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law - from the "or else" clause of life. That should change our marriages too.

*Marriage is an unconditional commitment to an imperfect person. This is the relationship Christ has with us. Satisfaction in the love of Christ is the best defense of your marriage. Don't burden your spouse with expectations of perfection.

1 Peter 3:1-7

*This passage teaches each role (husband/wife) how to look to Christ as the example.

*A Christ-like wife: a spirit that receives rather than competes is called very precious! You can change your husband, even something as serious as his beliefs, by this. But no matter what your husband's response to your pure conduct, it is beautiful in God's sight.

*Focus most on adorning yourself with the imperishable things. Worry is not beautiful. Hope in God is beautiful.

*Family idolatry is not the call of the gospel. Don't worship your children, or your spouse.

*A Christ-like husband: study your wife so that you can understand her most deeply. Love her in the way that is meaningful to HER. If she is unsatisfied even after that? Love her anyway. Christ loved us when we would not be satisfied, even unto death.

*Weaker vessel is a reference to what women endure physically that men do not. Honor your wife in that, and give her first consideration.

*For both men and women, the idea that "this (ie, strong-willed, stubborn, shy, laid-back) is just the personality I was born with" can't hold water. In Christ we are reborn. We are freed and made able to be more like Christ, despite our personalities.

*Spiritually, we are equals before God: co-heirs. Together.

*Above all else, a Christian marriage exists to the glory of God.

I'd Rather Have Jesus

Would I really? Would I rather have Jesus than a bigger, nicer house? Or what about $500 more dollars in our bank account? A new belt? I'd like to have all those things. But I must want to have Jesus most of all. Father, by Your grace, please make this more true of my heart every day.

I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold;

I'd rather be His than have riches untold;

I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands,

I'd rather be led by His nail-pierced hand

Than to be the king of a vast domain

And be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.

I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause;

I'd rather be faithful to His dear cause;

I'd rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,

I'd rather be true to His holy name

Than to be the king of a vast domain

And be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.

He's fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;

He's sweeter than honey from out of the comb;

He's all that my hungering spirit needs.

I'd rather have Jesus and let Him lead

Than to be the king of a vast domain

And be held in sin's dread sway.

I'd rather have Jesus than anything

This world affords today.

"I'd Rather Have Jesus"

Rhea Miller/George Beverly Shea

In Lenten Lands

Here the whole world (stars, water, air,

And field, and forest, as they were

Reflected in a single mind)

Like cast off clothes was left behind

In ashes, yet with hopes that she,

Re-born from holy poverty,

In lenten lands, hereafter may

Resume them on her Easter Day.

This was the epitaph written by C.S. Lewis for his wife Joy, for her cremation memorial after her death from cancer at age 45. Isn't it heartbreaking? Isn't it hopeful? In Christ we will be reborn, even from the ashes of this world, in the ultimate Easter celebration, when He comes again to make all things new.

Till We Have Faces

The complaint was the answer. To have heard myself making it was to be answered. Lightly men talk of saying what they mean. "Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words." A glib saying. When the time comes to you at which you will be forced at last to utter the speech which has lain at the center of your soul for years, which you have, all that time, idiot-like, been saying over and over, you'll not talk about the joy of words. I saw well why the gods do not speak to us openly, nor let us answer. Till that word can be dug out of us, why should they hear the babble that we think we mean? How can they meet us face to face till we have faces?

-from Till We Have Faces, by C.S. Lewis

Then the LORD spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:

“Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me."

Then Job answered the LORD:

“I am unworthy—how can I reply to you?
I put my hand over my mouth.
I spoke once, but I have no answer—
twice, but I will say no more.”

Job 38:1-3, 40:3-5

An Epilogue to 25 Days of Advent: Do You Hear What I Hear?

Along with my mother, I had asked my other most faithful reader, Heather, to do a guest entry for the 25(ish) days of Advent series. I'm so glad she agreed, even if I'm a little late in getting around to posting it! Here are Heather's thoughts on a favorite Christmas song of hers, and I think they provide a wonderful wrap-up to the series.

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One of my earliest memories is of me sitting on a tall stool in the choir room of our church in Tampa, legs dangling high above the floor. I was probably about 3 years old, and the choir director was trying to coax me into singing “Do You Hear What I Hear?” as a solo in our church Christmas pageant that year. I don’t think she ever succeeded in convincing me to do it (evidently, I was not too keen on singing in front of others even then), but love for this song abides in me to this day.

One of the more modern Christmas carols, DYHWIH was written by a married couple named Noel and Gloria (perfect Christmas song-writing names!) in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The imminent threat of nuclear war during this time is said to have directly inspired the line “Pray for peace, people everywhere”. Both songwriters have stated that initially, neither of them could perform DYHWIH all the way through without crying. The song was made famous by Bing Crosby the following year when it was aired on a Bob Hope Christmas special, and has been covered by various artists ever since. With subtle mid-Eastern influences in the chord progression and orchestration, along with striking major/minor contrasts throughout, the music itself has a captivating quality rare among Christmas songs. And the lyrics do more than justice to the great music! Each little verse is a jewel of a poem about this holy night, yet the narrative is so simple a child can learn it:

Said the night wind to the little lamb,

“Do you see what I see?

Way up in the sky, little lamb,

Do you see what I see?

A star, a star dancing in the night

With a tail as big as a kite,

With a tail as big as a kite.”

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,

“Do you hear what I hear?

Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,

Do you hear what I hear?

A song, a song high above the trees

With a voice as big as the sea,

With a voice as big as the sea.”

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,

“Do you know what I know?

In your palace warm, mighty king,

Do you know what I know?

A Child, a Child shivers in the cold—

Let us bring Him silver and gold,

Let us bring Him silver and gold.”

Said the king to the people everywhere,

“Listen to what I say!

Pray for peace, people everywhere,

Listen to what I say!

The Child, the Child sleeping in the night,

He will bring us goodness and light.

He will bring us goodness and light!”

Verse 1. I love that the rest of God’s creation might have participated in the spreading of the good news. That the wind blew differently. That even the sheep over which the shepherds were abiding may have sensed something was different. That a star with a tail as big as a kite shone from outer space as a symbol of a promise realized. And that the star was dancing! It ties in beautifully with what David says in Psalm 96 (verses 11-13, NLT) about how the Earth will rejoice in Christ’s second coming:

“Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice!

Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise!

Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy!

Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord, for He is coming!”

All of creation must have been ringing with jubilation that night!

Verse 2. I love the description of the angels’ song as “ringing through the sky”. Like a bell that cannot be dampened, the news of the birth of God’s Son pealed forth from heavenly messengers. Their song was “as big as the sea”, covering the earth and soaking its inhabitants in the flood of the holy message.

Verse 3. Our Savior was not born into the warm palace he deserved, but instead “shivered in the cold”. He took one of the humblest forms we can imagine- the frail flesh of a newborn baby, a being utterly dependent on others for its very survival. And yet, strangely, it makes sense. Jesus entered into this world the same way every person since Adam and Eve had entered it, giving him a broad spectrum of human experiences- God with us, but in a form that was also 100% human.

Verse 4. “He will bring us goodness and light”- what a lovely thought! The miracle of Christmas brings goodness and light in abundance! The promises of the advent candles we light (peace, hope, joy, love) became flesh in that little baby. God’s plan was finally put into motion, signifying a true end of the power of evil in the world. This baby, Jesus Christ, will forever deliver us from the darkness we deserve, and bring us light. Amen!

25(ish) Days of Advent: Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

Hark! The Herald Angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King;
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
Joyful, all ye nations, rise.
Join the triumph of the skies.
With th' Angelic Hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem!"
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King."

Christ, by highest heaven adored,
Christ, the everlasting lord
Late in time behold Him come,
Off-spring of the Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,
Hail, the incarnate deity
Pleased as Man with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the New-born king!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace,
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life 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.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the New-born king!"

One of my all-time favorites. It speaks with such grandeur about Jesus as God, and how he willingly and humbly laid aside his glory and robed himself in our humanity. And he did it for love, so that we wouldn't have to die, so that we could be reconciled to God. For our ransom. For our rescue.

Merry Christmas.

25 Days of Advent: Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels We Have Heard on High

Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tiding be
Which inspire your heavenly song?

Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

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

Gloria in excelsis Deo!
Gloria in excelsis Deo!


This song was partially authored by the angels themselves, as the chorus is from the original Latin translation of Luke 2:

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

Gloria in Excelsis Deo! Glory to God in the highest! I quoted from it once before, but it's too good to exclude. So here is the Jesus Storybook Bible telling of Luke 2.

Now God was going to send a big choir of angels to sing his happy song to the world: He's here! He's come! Go and see him. My little Boy.

Now where would you send your splendid choir? To a big concert hall maybe? Or a palace perhaps? God sent his to a little hillside, outside a little town, in the middle of the night. He sent all those angels to sing for a raggedy old bunch of shepherds watching their sheep outside Bethlehem.

In those days, remember, people used to laugh at shepherds and say they were smelly and call them other rude names (which I can't possibly mention here). You see, people thought shepherds were no-bodies, just scruffy old riff-raff.

But God must have thought shepherds were very important indeed, because they're the ones he chose to tell the good news to first.

That night some shepherds were out in the open fields, warming themselves by a campfire, when suddenly the sheep darted. They were frightened by something. The olive trees rustled. What was that... a wing beat?

They turned around. Standing in front of them was a huge warrior of light, blazing in the darkness. "Don't be afraid of me!" the bright shining man said. "I haven't come to hurt you. I've come to bring you happy news for everyone everywhere. Today, in David's town, in Bethlehem, God's Son has been born! You can go and see him. He is sleeping in a manger."

Behind the angel they saw a strange glowing cloud - except it wasn't a cloud, it was angels... troops and troops of angels, armed with light! And they were singing a beautiful song: "Glory to God! To God be Fame and Honor and all our Hoorays!"

25 Days of Advent: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Today I am featuring a guest blogger... my momma! I asked Sally to write something about one of her favorite Christmas hymns, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." As usual, she did awesome. Here are her wise thoughts for you to enjoy!

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On December 1, 1990, our little family went to a Christmas play called Impressario/Celebration” at the Masonic Temple in Guthrie, Oklahoma. This was the first time I remember that the song “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” really sunk into my heart. To me the melody is so haunting and the words have come to mean more and more each passing Christmas.

When I started to study the Old Testament it helped me understand this song and have a richer understanding and appreciation of Christmas and the coming of the long awaited Messiah, Emmanuel (God with us).

Christmas hope goes all the way back to the beginning when God promised Adam and Eve, and all those who would come after them, a deliverer – one who would free them from their bondage. God’s faithful remnant, those who trusted in His promises, clung to this hope down through the years.


O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel
that mourns in lonely exile here
until the Son of God appear.

O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer
our spirits by thine advent here;
disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
and death’s deep shadows put to flight.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high,
and order all things, far and nigh;
to us the path of knowledge show,
and cause us in her ways to go.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
all peoples in one heart and mind;
bid envy, strife and quarrels cease:
fill the whole world with heaven’s peace.


Each verse features one Old Testament name for the Messiah:

#1 Emmanuel – God with us. - Isaiah 7:14

#2 Dayspring (morning star) - Malachi 4:2

#3 Wisdom – Isaiah 11:2

#4 Desire of Nations – Jeremiah 10:7


The verses of this song still have life application for us today. We want God to be with us. We need Him to free us from our bondage. We have all felt exiled, isolated. Things in our lives can be dark and gloomy and we want light. We want death to be conquered. Our lives are chaotic and we need God to order our lives. We want to know how to proceed in life. We want people in our family, in our community, in our world to get along; we’re tired of all the fighting. We long for heaven’s peace.

Christmas, the birth of Christ, was the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah – a Savior. He invaded earth with His presence. So we can sing the refrain:

“Rejoice, rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.”

And not just Israel, He came for everyone. Emmanuel, God with us: His presence is just as real today. He’s still touching lives and changing hearts.

25 Days of Advent: Once In Royal David's City

Once In Royal David's City

Once in royal David's city
Stood a lowly cattle shed,
Where a mother laid her Baby
In a manger for His bed:
Mary was that mother mild,
Jesus Christ her little Child.

He came down to earth from heaven,
Who is God and Lord of all,
And His shelter was a stable,
And His cradle was a stall;
With the poor, and mean, and lowly,
Lived on earth our Savior holy.

For he is our childhood's pattern;
Day by day, like us He grew;
He was little, weak and helpless,
Tears and smiles like us He knew;
And He feeleth for our sadness,
And He shareth in our gladness.

And our eyes at last shall see Him,
Through His own redeeming love;
For that Child so dear and gentle
Is our Lord in heaven above,
And He leads His children on
To the place where He is gone.

Not in that poor lowly stable,
With the oxen standing by,
We shall see Him; but in heaven,
Set at God's right hand on high;
Where like stars His children crowned
All in white shall wait around.

This is another song which I was not previously very familiar with, but grew to love from the festive version on the aforementioned Sufjan Christmas album. Like "Away in a Manger," it was originally written for children. And like many things meant for children, it might really mean more to us grown-ups.

Take the third verse. I love the lines "Tears and smiles like us He knew/And he feeleth for our sadness/and he shareth in our gladness." Part of the miracle of Jesus being fully God and fully man was exactly this. He knew sadness and joy, first as a little child and then, like us, more fully and more deeply as an adult. He wept at the death of his friend. He feasted and celebrated at the wedding banquet. He is not dispassionate or incapable of understanding our life here on Earth, because he too lived it. He became like us, even humbling himself so far as to be born a helpless baby. C.S. Lewis put it like this:

The Eternal Being, who knows everything and who created the whole universe, became not only a man but before that a baby, and before that a fetus inside a woman's body. If you want to get the hang of it, think how you would like to become a slug or a crab.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. (John 1:14)

He too shared in their humanity, so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death... For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way. (Hebrews 2:14,17)

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

25 Days of Advent: Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

This is, at least to me, a more obscure Christmas hymn. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever sung it in a church service. I sort of fell in love with it, though, after hearing the version from Sufjan Steven's Christmas albums. Here it is, for your listening enjoyment.



Lo, How a Rose E'er Blooming

Lo, how a Rose e'er blooming
From tender stem hath sprung!
Of Jesse's lineage coming
As men of old have sung.
It came, a flower bright,
Amid the cold of winter,
When half-spent was the night.

Isaiah 'twas foretold it,
The Rose I have in mind:
With Mary we behold it,
The virgin mother kind.
To show God's love aright
She bore to us a Savior,
When half-spent was the night.

This Flow'r, whose fragrance tender
With sweetness fills the air,
Dispels with glorious splendor,
The darkness everywhere.
True man, yet very God,
From sin and death He saves us,
And lightens ev'ry load.

The imagery rises from the prophecies of Isaiah, including this one from Isaiah 11:1 - "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." There's a lot of history to take into context, but in a nutshell, it foretells that the Messiah will come from the descendants of David, as promised. The Jesse being referenced was David's father. They were from Bethlehem, which is why Joseph and Mary had to travel there for the census, and why they were there when Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-4). Not coincidentally, this fulfilled the words of another prophet, Micah, who wrote in Micah 5:2 - "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. "

This stuff is important. Don't let Biblical history bog you down or bore you because it isn't directly about you. This is something I really learned through my recent study of Daniel. We need to open our Bibles ultimately to learn about God and to find him worthy of our awe and worship. The Bible is for us, but it isn't just about us.

We can find the love and mercy of God in these Old Testament prophecies, by realizing that he planned for millennia the salvation he would provide for us in Jesus. This song honors that.

25 Days of Advent: O Little Town of Bethlehem

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 to-night.

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 men 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 to-day.
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel.

Here's something I like about this song. The line that ends the first verse says, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." Hopes and fears can be two sides of the same coin, in a way. You hope for something, and you fear the opposite. You hope for a healthy child, fearing the many illnesses and disabilities that exist. You hope for job security, fearing what would happen without that income. You hope for a peaceful family get-together, fearing the arguments that could occur. You hope for a change of heart, fearing that without it you are not the person you thought you were.

In little Bethlehem, on the first Christmas, God met all your hopes and fears in the person of Jesus Christ.

You have hopes? How big? How unlikely? "What is impossible with men is possible with God." Jesus himself promised that. By laying our hopes at the feet of Jesus, we allow Him to pick them up and wield them far more powerfully than we ever imagined.

You have fears? How bad? How scary? "There is no pit so deep but Christ is deeper still." In Jesus, ultimate fear is vanquished by perfect love. And daily fears are assuaged by fellowship, by prayer, by the promises of God's word.

All your hopes and fears are met in Him tonight. Now.

25 Days of Advent: We Three Kings

I'm cheating a little. It was a busy weekend. So I'm stealing some of my thoughts from a blog I wrote last Christmas and I'm post-dating it so that it appears I put it up on Saturday like I was supposed to. Blogging magic!

We Three Kings of Orient Are

We three kings of Orients are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star.

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again,
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to reign.

Frankincense to offer have I,
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Prayer and praising, all men raising,
Worship Him, God on high.

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb.

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Earth to heaven replies.

O star of wonder, star of night,
Star with royal beauty bright,
Westward leading, still proceeding,
Guide us to thy perfect light.


"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." Matthew 2:10-11

Gold - Just like today, gold was very valuable during ancient times. It would also have been a practical gift since it could be used for currency by Mary & Joseph. The symbolic nature of gold is to reference Jesus as king. In fact, all the gifts are common to what might have been given to royalty at that time. The wise men recognized Jesus's lordship, even in the form of a chubby little baby.

Frankincense - This gift, like its name implies, was a material that could be burned as incense. It comes originally as dried sap from a specific tree that is native to the southern area of the Arabian Peninsula. It was used by multiple ancient cultures, including Egyptians, Jews, and Chinese, across Africa and Asia as a fragrant incense during religious ceremonies. It was also used in perfume, makeup, and medicines. It relates symbolically to Jesus as priest, as our connection to God the Father.

Myrrh - Myrrh is also a tree-sap byproduct. It has some really interesting historical uses. The ancient Egyptians used it to embalm the dead. Despite its bitter qualities, it was also used in fine perfumes and anointing oils, and is mentioned throughout scripture as such. Myrrh also has a functional use as an antiseptic, and is used as such even today. Whether the magi intended it or not, the gift of myrrh has come to foreshadow Christ's death on the cross.

The symbolic nature of these items is fascinating stuff, but when I think of the magi and their gifts, I am mostly convicted about my own gifts to God. Have I brought him my best? My most rare and valuable? My most prized and significant offerings? Gifts to glorify Jesus my God, to honor Jesus my Priest, to thank Jesus my Savior? Clean hands, a pure heart, incessant prayer, songs of worship, obedience, compassion... these and more are the offerings we can bring.

25 Days of Advent: Good Christian Men, Rejoice

I had no idea, before my little research, that this song was so old. The original lyrics, from which the English song was derived, were written in a mixture of Latin and German in the early 1300s. I kind of love that, you know? Little reminders that the worship and wonder of God has been around for a long, long time.


Good Christian Men, Rejoice

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Give ye heed to what we say:
Jesus Christ is born today.
Ox and ass before Him bow,
And He is in the manger now:
Christ is born today, Christ is born today!

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Now ye hear of endless bliss:
Jesus Christ was born for this.
He has opened heaven's door,
And man is blest forever more.
Christ was born for this,
Christ was born for this!

Good Christian men, rejoice
With heart and soul and voice!
Now ye need not fear the grave:
Jesus Christ was born to save;
Calls you one and calls you all,
To gain His everlasting hall.
Christ was born to save,
Christ was born to save!


Jesus Christ was born to save. Jesus said of himself, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." When Simeon held baby Jesus in the temple, he realized in wonder what lay in his arms and praised God, saying: "For my eyes have seen your salvation."

The helpless baby in the manger and the man who suffered and died on the cross are the same. The Christmas baby grew up to be the Easter Savior, the resurrected Christ. His was the ultimate fulfilled destiny.

25 Days of Advent: Away in a Manger

Away in a Manger

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head;
The stars in the 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 cradle till morning is nigh.

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.


Such a sweet little song, a Christmas hymn for little voices. Like Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, it is a song that teaches children how much Jesus loves them, and to love him in return. Did I get teary-eyed just now thinking of my own little child singing this song? Maybe. (Yes.)

Jesus did love children, and in fact told us grown-ups to be more like them: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." (Mt 18:3-5)

With that in mind, here is the telling of the Christmas story from The Jesus Storybook Bible - which, if you are wondering, is hands down the best children's Bible out there.

Sure enough, it was just as the angel had said. Nine months later, Mary was almost ready to have her baby.

Now Mary and Joseph had to take a trip to Bethlehem, the town King David was from. But when they reached the little town, they found every room was full. Every bed was taken. "Go away!" the innkeepers told them. "There isn't any place for you."

Where would they stay? Soon Mary's baby would come. They couldn't find anywhere except an old, tumbledown stable. So they stayed where the cows and the donkeys and the horses stayed.

And there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world his wonderful gift. The baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son.

Mary and Joseph wrapped him up to keep him warm. They made a soft bed of straw and used the animals' feeding trough as his cradle. And they gazed in wonder at God's Great Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and lying in a manger.

Mary and Joseph named him Jesus, "Emmanuel" - which means "God has come to live with us." Because, of course, he had.

That same night, in amongst the other stars, suddenly a bright new star appeared. Of all the stars in the dark vaulted heavens, this one shone clearer. It blazed in the night and made the other stars look pale beside it.

God put it there when his baby Son was born - to be like a spotlight. Shining on him. Lighting up the darkness. Showing people the way to him.

You see, God was like a new daddy - he couldn't keep the good news to himself. He'd been waiting all these long years for this moment, and now he wanted to tell everyone.

25 Days of Advent: Angels From the Realms of Glory

Angels From the Realms of Glory

Angels from the realms of glory
Wing your flight over all the earth;
Ye who sang creation's story
Now proclaim the Messiah's birth:

Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching over your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:

Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King

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

Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you, break your chains!

Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King

Though an infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father's throne,
Gather all nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:

Come and worship, come and worship
Worship Christ, the newborn King!


I have been using this site as a resource for a lot of these Christmas hymns; they usually have interesting historical information as well as the original words/verses. Such was the case for this one. My hymnal has five verses but the last two are different and apparently, additions/substitutions from the original words, which I have printed above.

I don't know why, because that fourth verse is about the best thing I've heard all day. It feels almost Easter-victorious, but I love that the author of this Christmas poem included it. The celebration of Christmas is made sweeter because we know why Christ came and what he did for us in his time here. "Justice now revokes the sentence; mercy calls you, break your chains!" The justice of the Holy God, righteously cast on sinful man, is, in that same God's infinite mercy, lifted from our heads and placed on the person of Jesus. If you know this truth and are standing around with your chains still on, know this: the baby who came at Christmas already broke them for you. Repent and shake them off once and for all. Come and worship!

25 Days of Advent: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

The lyrics from this song were originally a poem by Longfellow. He wrote it just months after the Civil War's bloody engagement at the Battle of Gettysburg. It is about Christmas, yes, but even more so about peace.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
'There is no peace on earth,' I said,
'For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.'

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
'God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.'

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Hate is strong. "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil." John 3:19

But God is not dead, or sleeping, or unaware, or uncaring. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts... [My word] will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 56:8-9, 11

"He will not let your foot slip - he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." Psalm 121:3-4

The wrong, ultimately, shall fail. "Woe to the wicked! The will be paid back for what their hands have done." Isaiah 3:11

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you game me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." Matthew 25:41-43, 46

The right, ultimately, shall prevail. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade." 1 Peter 1:3-4

"Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people both now and forevermore." Psalm 125:1-2

And there will be everlasting peace. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Revelation 21:3-4