Be Still Because of Silent Night

Last night I went to a concert on Temple Square with my family. Choirs and artists from various denominations joined together in celebrating the gift of our Savior and what He means to us. There were some definite musical gems. Including a medley of "Sleigh Ride" and "Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam" performed to a background of snowboarders projected onto the dome of the Tabernacle. Yeah. Think about that one for a minute. As well as Vocal Point's (relatively) famous rendition of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." If you've never heard that one, go look it up. Right now. It will bring you happiness.

But I was most struck by the final number, a medley of "Be Still, My Soul" and "Silent Night." How true it is that our souls can only be still because of that silent night so long ago in Bethlehem. We can only have peace because that child in the manger was the Son of God, come to earth to fulfill His divine role of redeeming the human race. Because He was born, because He lived, and because He died, we can find present and eternal peace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Messenger of the Covenant

Recently I’ve been studying (at President Nelson’s invitation) about God’s covenants to Israel as well as each passage in the scriptures about Christ. As Christmas approached, I found a beautiful intersection of my two courses of study: Christ is the “messenger of the covenant” (Mal. 3:1).  For some reason this phrase struck me deeply. Christ is the embodiment and fulfillment of God’s promises to His covenant people. This poem tries to capture some of the wonder and gratitude I feel for the tiny Babe in Bethlehem who came to fulfill God’s promises to all mankind.   Millenia of promises From God to His children Lay swaddled in a manger That night in Bethlehem.   The incarnate fulfillment Of ancient covenants Was cradled by his mother Under heaven’s broad expanse.   God had promised love, And hope and resurrection; Forgiveness, joy, and family; Healing and protection:   Those promises all came to pass Through Christ our Heavenly...
Read more

Memories and Missing

Image
There’s something about an anniversary—about being located in the same cosmic space in relation to the sun that you were when something significant happened—that makes you nostalgic; that makes you think about the past. And if you’re like me, it makes you feel like waxing verbose and throwing scattered memories and thoughts onto a computer screen. It’s been a year now since my dad died. An entire revolution around the sun, complete with Christmas, birthdays, and all the other celebrations and mundane days that noisily squeeze themselves into our calendar. Each of the days of the year has now happened once without my dad here on the earth to welcome it; without him able to receive my texts or laugh at my jokes or tell me he’s proud of me or hold my little boys. And I wish I could say, at this end of my first year without Dad, that I have some profound insight to share with the world; some neat little package of how-to-succeed-at-grief tied up with a bow and ready for dissemination...
Read more

How can an American love both Russia and Ukraine?

Anybody who knows me is well aware of how much I love Ukraine. Ukraine will always be my second home. She will forever have my heart and my loyalty. So I guess, given that love and the current political situation in Eastern Europe, I shouldn't be too surprised when people ask me how I could've gone to Russia this summer--isn't that somehow betraying my loyalty to Ukraine? And yet, that question does surprise me. Because I see in it the implication of the entire Russian nation in causing the unrest in Ukraine--the entire population as being somehow antagonistic to Ukraine. And, having now lived in Russia, that is a concept completely foreign and unfathomable to me. Because Russians are wonderful people! I know them. I have seen their hearts. My coworkers in Moscow are not responsible for my Crimean friends now claiming citizenship in the Russian Federation. My Russian friends didn't kindle unrest in cities in eastern Ukraine. The Russia I know is kind. It is peaceful. It...
Read more