Monday, December 15, 2008
I Need a Silent Night
Yes, I'm still wearing jeans and a sweatshirt when possible, I now just make sure I have on my turtleneck and maybe even my 'Cuddleduds' as well. It's a whopping 3 degrees here today and snowing after a high of near 50 on Sunday. I really do love the snow. I could do without single digits and whipping winds, but a white Christmas is magical.
I bought myself an early Christmas present last week; Amy Grant's new Christmas CD. Those of you who know me know that she is my fav and on my bucket list to meet someday. Anyway, I noticed one of the songs on the play list is "I Need a Silent Night". I immediately thought, "I can relate to that." In the midst of the chaos and commercialism of Christmas, I often feel the stress mounting. I'm not really a "shopper" by nature, and just when I think I have it all done, invariably I end up going out and scrambling for something at the last minute. Then there's the schedule that seems to implode between basketball games, Christmas parties, classroom parties and trying to get all the loose ends tied up at work and home.....I know it's this way for most people and I try to fight against it, but so often I let my joy be stolen so easily and quickly. It can be gone in the blink of an eye.
Do you ever have those times or seasons in life when you get this reoccurring theme coming at you over and over again? Well, right now, for me it's peace. It was the topic on Sunday morning and it's in this song. The more I listen to it, the more I realize that is what I'm longing for. Not peace as in "happy". That's too simple and idealistic. It's more like a sense of well-being. A sense that God has not forgotten me in the midst of all the busyness, crazy schedules, chaos and frenzy. But, it order to hear His voice, to sense His Presence, to internalize the gift of the simple but magical birth of this baby boy, Jesus; the Prince of Peace, I need a silent night. I have to fight for a silent night. I have to actually schedule a silent night.....
I Need a Silent Night
I've made this same mistake before,
Too many malls, too many stores
December traffic, Christmas rush,
Breaks me 'til I push and shove
Children are crying while mothers are trying
To photograph Santa and sleigh
The shopping and buying and standing forever in line...
What can I say?
I need a silent night, a Holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear; a little peace right here
To end this crazy day with a silent night
December comes and disappears
Faster and faster every year
Did my own mother keep this pace
Or was the world a different place?
Where people stayed home wishing for snow
Watching three channels of their TV
Look at us now, runnin' around
Trying to buy Christmas peace
I need a silent night; a Holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day, with a silent night.
What was it like back there in Bethlehem
With peace on earth good will toward men?
(For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us
and the government will rest on His shoulders
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.)
I need a silent night, a Holy night
To hear an angel voice through the chaos and the noise
I need a midnight clear, a little peace right here
To end this crazy day in a silent night.
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4 comments:
Cindy,
I'm so glad you posted again. I have really missed hearing from you. Your topic is so right on for this time of the year. Hopefully, we will all schedule a few silent nights during this season to hear His voice. I wonder the same things that you do about whether our mothers and grandmothers experienced the same anxious times during this season. I kind of think that they didn't quite so much. Maybe a little, but the pace is increasing, I think.
I hope that you and your family experience a wonderful Christmas season and that you are able to schedule at least one or two silent nights.
Blessings,
Dianne
Nice post Cindy! The way you describe the ‘peace’ that you are looking (longing) for is similar to how I would describe ‘joy’. An inner sense of well-being and contentment that is completely independent of anything and everything around me that can only come from Christ. There are two occasions that immediately come to mind when I try to describe ‘joy’. The first is visiting Angola Prison and standing in a worship service with about 400 ‘lifers’. These guys were spending the rest of their lives in a maximum security prison and yet you could feel their ‘joy’
(peace). Everything about their lives had been exposed to everyone around them and they had nothing to hide. They were in love with Christ, had asked for and accepted his forgiveness and nothing else mattered. I found myself wanting what they had (and feeling a little strange being envious of them!).
The second occasion is watching and one day sitting down and talking with Eric, who I see every morning on my way into work sitting on a park bench waiting for the bus to come and take him to work. I sat and talked with him one morning and it was clear that he didn’t have a whole lot. He lived in the projects down the street and took public transportation each day to his minimum wage job. He didn’t seem to care though. I could tell in his eyes and the way he talked about coming out to the bus stop early so he could watch the sunrise every morning that he had ‘joy’ (peace). That’s what I’m longing for and that’s what I keep getting distracted from when I get all wrapped up in activities and work and just living life.
P.S. I bought the song too. Let me know if you get credit for the referral or some type of commission.
Patrick Foster Firman (your brother)
Wonderful post Cindy. It is so what I am feeling too. May you and your family have a peaceful, "silent night" Christmas.
Karen
Oooh...you are back! Thanks for sharing I Need a Silent Night. It rings so true. Love to read your thoughts...keep them coming. Have a fabulous Christmas celebration and moments of peace and wonder!
Love,
Lisa
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