A must-must for any holiday musicaholic: Sufjan Steven's "Songs for Christmas" box set. Year in and year out he's made christmas albums for his friends and family. Originals mixed with classics but with banjo or a fresh rendering. So once Sufjan got an audience that bought his records in large quantities, he unleashed a four disc set of his christmas songs that were previously for his nearest and dearest. I've been listening to them all morning, he's got a song about the animals in the stable Jesus was born in and how they felt. There's a song called "come on and do the elf dance." which is an original to the beat of a classic carol. He's got some amazing xylaphone intrumentals including one for "Hark the herold angels sing". Enough about Suf... Peep it out.
"And wonders, wonders of His love." That is one of the many caroling lyrics that I sing in tears of joy now that I'm freed. I cry willingly for the mercy Jesus has gifted to me. In Christ, I live with more honest emotions (not decieved by moods). Before I was too caught up in being hard, hiding how I felt because it was a sign of weakness. In the last days that I faced darkness I even felt plagued by hopelessness. Now I seek the honesty of my feelings and admire things like gentleness and sincerity.
I'm talking snow out in Denver: twice the amount as predicted last night. My world is covered in white. As this flakey blanket covers the earth all around me. I'm reminded of Romans 8:1-2. Believers are set free from the laws of sin and death through Christ Jesus into a snow like state: individual in salvation yet clumped together by the Body of Christ. Once forgiven and loved by Jesus, comes the qualities of God's white light. It's beauty to behold.
Today Christ is born. He brought the whiteness and light to earth which God the Father is discribed as being. Second, Jesus knew full well the role of His red blood of forgiveness. This was to be His work and attribute. Since Jesus is part of the Alpha and Omega crew it blows my mind that he willingly came down to serve, be humble and cry like a baby (I suppose). Exemplify the standard God calls us all to be by not sinning. Christ instead relyed on God to get through the days of His life. On the cross Jesus redeemed all sons of Adam from sin, Satan and evil.
God cannot lie to us that Jesus came to be in Bethlahem. It is because of purity that Jesus did not sin. It is because of love that He gave His life. Jesus ressurrected to prove He is Lord and not a liar. I owe Jesus everything I can and will ever do. He chose to show me the whiteness of God's mercy and grace. So I find it a joyful blessing to celebrate His birthday with some fresh snow on the ground.
They say "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I think its more that like: beauty is in the eye of God (as He is the beholder of everything). So in becoming more Christ-like, my eye for beauty becomes whiter and brighter as the temptation, sin and the world slowly fades. I'm actually generating God's will in me through grace. Last night my Pastor spoke on Simeon the servant of God that was promised to see the Savior of the world before he died. One of the verses was how Simeon was waiting for the Lord. He was waiting... -not going about his own life preoccupied, rather just waiting on the Lord. The Pastor paralleled that to an experiment by an newspaper where they got the best violinist in the world on the best violin in the world to play in jeans in a subway station to see what would become of this. My Pastor asked us if we allow ourselves to wait on God, to be awaire and notice God working outside of ourselves: amongst co-workers, organizations, chruches, prayer and in the subway stations. Do we have faith in Christ's body alive and well on earth? Are we keen to this fact of unification? Do we seek it out and trust it?
I spent the remainder of the service in silent observation trying to notice God's working in my church. I looked around to the many people I know now as opposed to a year ago. As I sunk into waiting on God: I wept joyfully out of the beauty. Seeing people willingly coming together to worship and hope in Jesus. I could see that God was really at work here in our church, outside of me, surrounding me. I had seen darkness of such an intensity -but never a light so bright. It was awe inspiring and I thanked God for the white gift of Christmas: His Son.
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