Out of the Glory Grace Noll Crowell
Out of the glory which He had with the Father
Before the world was, the Lord came down;
Out of the radiance and the dazzling splendor,
To the shadowed dusk of a little earthly town!
Only the stir of the sleeping beasts about Him,
Only coarse hay to line His manger bed
After the glory-after the glory to find there
But a single light from a star-lamp overhead.
Out of the glory. . . .Oh, the wonder that Jesus
Once came o the earth to meet our human need!
That God the Father loved us enough to send Him
Is marvelous, all but incredible act indeed.
That Christ should leave the companionship of His Father,
The magnificent splendor for a lowly birth,
Is cause for rejoicing-let the whole earth praise Him;
The Saviour who came to save our small lost earth.
The Light of Bethlehem
Thomas Curtis Clarke
Above a world entrapped by fear,
There shone a silver star.
The doubters saw it not, nor cared;
The men of faith, from afar,
Knew that the Light of Love looked down,
And followed it through field and town.
Through desert lands they made their way
Past mountains bleak and wild;
They came to humble Bethlehem
And found a little Child.
Their hearts were stirred; their feet had trod
A rode of peace-they learned of God!
How blind are we who walk through night
In desert lands of sin!
Our ears are deaf, we cannot hear,
Amid the strife and din.
The voice of One who came to tell
The Word of Truth – that all is well.
Our hearts are broken by the years,
But still there shines a star
Above a little manger – home.
Oh, that we might, from afar
Retrace our steps through fear and night
To faith and hope, and Bethlehem
The Christmas Star
Merle K. Heicher
How strange the portent of the star!
It seems to hold within its light
A revelation from afar
With which to pierce the present night:
It holds the hopes of ancient men
Who by their faith lived life aright,
And taught us with prophetic pen
The message of this wondrous night
How rich the token of the star!
We feel the stir of angel’s wings,
And in the fields in dulcet bar
The heavenly host around us sings:
We stand in awe with shepherds old;
We kneel with Oriental kings,
Our myrrh and frankincense and gold,
Each one a precious tribute brings.
What peace! The guidance of the star!
It shines across the coming years,
It loosens us from sins that mar,
It casts away our shackling fears.
What joy! The brilliance of the star!
No more can sorrow start our tears,
It sets the gates of heaven ajar
And lo, the glorious Christ appears.
The clip is so reminiscent of the old phonographs of my grandparents. Our girls remember with fondness playing with Granddad & Grammy's old Victrola in the basement of their home. The sheet music that is featured at the beginning is the exact piece of sheet music I learned to play "Star of the East" on the piano. Guess I am old enough to be a Nana!
The program "The Stillness of Christmas" was written by Grandma. She had read an article by that same name in a very old publication, An American Annual of Christmas Literature and Art - Christmas. It was written by John Peterson and I so wish I could find a site to link with this program. Mr. Peterson's article is excellent and it is a Christmas memory that I will always cherish. It is found in the Volume 11 of the Christmas Annual, 1941.
The Stillness of Christmas
For a number of years, I have looked forward to the Christmas season with utter dread. Believing this attitude of mine to be wicked, I pushed it deeper in my heart and tried to cover it up with a feverish activity- trying to work up the Christmas spirit. Then, to my surprise, I learned I was not alone in this dread of the Christmas celebration. There were others who shared the same feeling. It was then I dragged my thoughts out into the open and examined them.
Why should one come to dread the observance of a season that marks God’s greatest gift to earth, His Son and that gift in the precious form of a baby? There was a reason for this dread-something most assuredly was wrong. What was it? Two reasons were at once obvious - over-commercialization and over-organization. These two conditions leave us first with little to nothing financially, to carry out the true meaning of Christmas – the bringing of comfort and happiness to those in need.
A child stood in the market-place,
Privation marked his wan white face,
His lips were blue, his listless eyes
Were like the gray of winter skies.
Can this be Christmas Day?
A rich man sat in cushioned ease.
Thought he, “I have what e’er I please.
Food, clothes, are mine, no wants annoy.
My wealth can buy what men enjoy.
Can this be Christmas Day?
The rich man left his house of stone
And saw the needy child alone,
Gave of himself, gave of his store,
Found peace he had not known before.
Yes! This is Christmas day!
Alfred Grant Walton
Too much of our Christmas giving is to those who have. Then the seemingly endless round of activities leave us with no time for meditation to ponder in our hearts as Mary did – for stillness – stillness to hear the angel sing and to hear God speak.
Stillness at Christmas?!! You ask in surprise. With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas, the rushing around, the blaring of the lovely Christmas hymns from public address systems practically all day long during the shopping hours – a travesty that should not be permitted, can there really be stillness at Christmas?
“There must be. For stillness belongs in a special way to the deeper significance of the season. The writers of many of the best loved Christmas hymns have called attention to that quietness which is so essential, a part of this festival time. In the first stanza of Edmund Hamilton Sear’s ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ is voiced the thought of a world that ‘in solemn stillness’ heard the angels sing. The quietness of a night under the open skies rested on shepherds as they watched their flocks but a deeper, far deeper stillness must have held them as the glory of the Lord shone round about them and fear gripped their hearts. And after the departure of the angels, after the glad tidings had been brought in word and melody, stillness awed, solemn, sacred, must have enveloped them for a time. Bishop Philip Brooks’ famous hymn pictures a little town asleep in the quiet midnight hours; “O Little town of Bethlehem
"As the peaceful village sleeps through the silent night, the heavenly gift is given. There are no crowds or cheers. Humble shepherds hear the announcement and rejoice; but the little town sleeps on in undisturbed repose: How silently, how silently the wondrous gift is given." So God imparts to human hearts the blessing of his heavens. No ear may hear His coming, but in this word of sin, where meek souls will receive Him, still the dear Christ enters in.
"A silent Bethlehem
"True, there is a stillness at Christmas that may only be irksome to him who knows nothing of the glad tidings of great joy that make this a festival day to all who really keep Christmas. There is also a stillness of Christmas, a stillness that bring quietness to fearful longing hearts, peace and unspeakable joy to those who receive the gift of our gracious God at Christmas-time."
This year as never before, the children of men who would hear the song of the angels at Christmas-time, who would experience the stillness of Christmas – must first hear the Voice that says, ‘Be still and know that I am God.”
“I’ve built Thee of holy thoughts
A cradle for Thy bed
And close beside a glowing hearth,
It waits to rest Thy head.
A candle in the window shines
It’s welcome out afar
And that Thou mayst be born to me
Love holds the door ajar.
Accept the hospice of my heart
Thou precious Babe divine
For all I am or have or hold
Forever Lord is Thine.
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