Nothing is more important in the
world, therefore, than for the human
race to receive the Lord, to hear and
believe His words, to love and obey
them on a large scale. We may doubt
that this will ever happen, but the
confident statements of the prophets
reflect the teaching that this really will
take place.
You shall go out with joy and be led
forth with peace. The mountains and
the hills shall break forth into singing
before you. And all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands. (Isaiah
55.12)
The closer presence
of heaven will literally
change the face of
the earth – not in any
obviously miraculous
way, but slowly,
according to the laws
of nature and the
miracles that go on
silently and continually
everywhere on earth.
It is true that heaven and nature
sing to receive the Lord at His birth.
The hills of Palestine answer the
celestial choirs. The palm trees wave
in silent praise, as the song of solemn
joy sweeps o’er Judah’s sacred hills. Had the crowds kept silent, the stones
themselves really would have cried out.
A stable lamp is lighted whose glow shall wake the sky
The stars shall bend their voices and every stone shall cry
And every stone shall cry though heavy, dull and dumb
And lie within the roadway to pave the Kingdom come
And every stone shall cry in praises of the Child
By whose descent among us the worlds are reconciled.
(“A Stable Lamp is Lighted” by Richard Wilbur)
The Rev. Jeremy F. Simons is semi-retired and serves as the
Chaplain of the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. Most recently he served
as pastor of the Bryn Athyn Church, and has also served in
Glenview, Illinois, and Kempton, Pennsylvania. He and his wife,
Allyn (Edmonds), live in Bryn Athyn. Contact: Jeremy.Simons@
brynathynchurch.org
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