Merry Christmas!!

"And there were, in the same country, shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.  And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

That night the angels announced the birth of Jesus - the reason for our celebration of Christmas.  I couldn't help but notice their praise...which also struck me as instruction to us..."Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."  This meshes with the rest of the Bible and its instruction to our purpose in life and how we are supposed to live...summed up in these simple words that night so long ago.  The only way that this praise happens, as well, is when we look at Christmas in light of Easter.  More and more I have been conscious of how the two intertwine and how we really need to celebrate a bit of Easter at Christmastime.  For, if Jesus was not born to die for us, there really would be no reason to celebrate.  I've also become more and more drawn to the Christmas carols that tie both in.

I want to leave you with a video of this Christmas carol - "A Christmas Hallelujah - by Cloverton".  This has been making the rounds on Facebook this year but I first stumbled across it a year or two ago.  I have always love the music to Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen but it just left something to be desired in the words.  These are the words that my heart always wanted this music to have.  So, take a listen and have a very Merry Christmas!

Until next time...