Okay, let’s get this over with. I hate going to the mall this time of year, but there are a few things that I can’t get online because of course I waited too long to order them, and I REFUSE to pay more for the shipping than the item costs itself! Uhhhhh, the parking garage. Seriously! Did everyone in the DFW Metroplex decide to come to this same mall today? Oh, is that a space? Hurry before anyone else gets it…seriously! A motorcycle? It takes up only half of the space, what a waste! Shouldn’t they have their own parking spaces?! Wait, here comes someone, I’ll just follow her… REALLY?? Seriously, lady! You are going to walk all the way down to the end and then cut over two whole rows? I will never get there in time, there are already three cars waiting for a spot over there! Thanks for the heads-up. Didn’t you realize that I was crawling behind you all this time! I HATE THE MALL!!! I can’t wait until Christmas is over!”
Does this sound familiar? It was my conversation in the car yesterday. I have to admit that my time spent inside the mall wasn’t much better. It wasn’t until later, when I was driving back home, listening to my Christmas playlist, that the words of one of the songs began to convict me. I realized that my exasperated rants of frustration and aggravation are not the sounds of Christmas that edify our Lord.
“One Quiet Moment” tells about Joseph and Mary as they await the birth of Jesus. As I really listened to the words of this song, I was struck by the realization that when both Joseph and Mary, separately, chose to accept their parts in God’s master plan of salvation, it was in a quiet moment. When Jesus was born, there wasn’t a loud, regal fanfare heralding the coming of the King of Kings, it took place in a shepherd’s cave, in a quiet moment.
Put yourself in that moment. What are the sounds that you hear? The crackling of a simple fire, hastily constructed by Joseph to take the chill out of the air. The rustling of hay and the lowing of the livestock that were suddenly disrupted by the arrival of these two strangers. The moans of Mary as her body progressed through the labor pains. The nervous breathing of Joseph, as he waited, helpless, for the arrival of the Son of God, who would be placed in his care. Then, Mary’s final, straining groan as she delivered, and the first gentle cries of the babe, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace were heard.
With just a few days day remaining before Christmas, I challenge you and myself in the midst of the hustle and hurry that the world has created for this season, that we would remember the words from the Book of Psalms, God’s original playlist. “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth.” Psalm 46:10.
Enjoy the sounds of Christmas and remember the sounds of our Lord’s birth, including the joyous song of the angels as they proclaimed, then and today, to a broken and hurting world, ALL IS WELL!
I encourage you to find a quiet moment and watch the video below. I hope it will bless you and much as it has me.
Merry Christmas!
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