Galilee of the Nations
Here in ‘Galilee of the nations’ we always have our ear to the ground.
We listen forthe sounds and cadence of tramping feet,
cries for vengeance, and once in a while cries for justice.
We know well thehurried sound of ripping bandages
the whimpers of lost children
We listen well, because we can’t really see
and we have walked in the darkness long enough
that we have become pretty good at navigating by shadows
But it’s not the noise that bothers us, not really.
It’s the gathering silence that causes us to stop what we are doing
and peek our heads above the battlements, searching sky and horizon
frightened, sleepy sentinels longing for a faint dawn.
And yet, it is for us that the promise holds, so certain in its weight,
that we speak of present darkness as if it were long, long ago.
Because, in the silence of a bitterly cold night, we have stood and watched
a great and marvelous light rise above a dark and yielding blackness.
And the pole stars of ourbarrenness, and our oppression, and our awfulness
to one another…..fade and fade and finally wash out,
overwhelmed by the unlooked for, and scarceto be imagined invasion into our dark land!
In the great light of this collision between two worlds,
every glad sound we are now able to hear, calls out to us new marching orders.
Orders of rejoicing, orders of zeal from the Lord of Hosts, orders to advance, singing
as we march, orders to gather in a groaning harvest, orders to fall in as ….
children formerly without a father, but now as children of the light, children greatly loved,
children who know who their daddy isand children who are able, finally to listen
in settled peace to the cry of a newborn….and find rest in the beauty of
a full throated….‘silent night’!
Isaiah 9:1-7 The Birt of Jesus Christ
"Silent Night, Holy Night" - Georgia Boy Choir
The Georgia Boy Choir singing Silent Night by Franz Gruber and arranged by David R. White. This performance was recorded on December 15, 2012, during Christmas with the Georgia Boy Choir at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church in Atlanta, GA. Video production and editorial by MONUMENTALmedia.
Birth of Christ - Antoine Pesne, 1745