I was talking with a staff member recently about the challenge of being in a job that seeks to make times like Christmas special for others, but can be so challenging to keep it special for yourself. How do you keep from losing the joy of Christmas while helping others find it?
I confessed to sharing that challenge and that I’ve never found a perfect answer that works the same every year, but I did share what seems to have helped me this season. In the early mornings or sometimes in the evenings I ask Alexa to play soft, sacred Christmas music. As I am working on sermons, responding to emails, or getting other deadlines met, I listen to this music. Every now and then, she (Alexa!) plays a song that just grips my soul. This has helped me keep the Christmas spirit alive in my heart.
Now let me shift gears for a moment. This Sunday I will portray the prophet Isaiah. One of the more popular readings in Advent comes from Isaiah 9, “The children who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who walked in a land of deep darkness on them has light shined.” What’s interesting to me about that verse is its past tense. People in darkness have seen. On them light has shined. A passage that speaks of future hope talks as if people already have that hope.
I believe I understand that. Sometimes the hope I’m looking for is a hope I have already received. I just need to remember it. I need something that jogs my memory, moves my soul, to recall and restore what I already believe and have experienced.
And that brings me back to music. One of the songs this season that has moved my soul this season is The Prayer. My favorite version is sung by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. It just grips me. So I thought I would share this song with you today in case you could use a Christmas spirit jolt. It’s, of course, not a Christmas song, but its beautiful, moving, and helps us remember what we’ve already received.
Wait to click on it until you are in a comfortable, relaxed place, and turn up the volume.
THE PRAYER