What does Christmas sound like?
At first pass, Christmas seems noisy. Busy. Once the holiday music comes on, it doesn’t stop—and neither do we.
But in a season of bustle and noise, some of our most beautiful moments are hushed: sitting before the Christmas tree with the lights turned low; gazing at a fresh-snow morning; holding a candle and singing: Silent night, holy night.
Christmas culminates not in the biggest noise, the brightest flash—but in a stable where, somehow, all is calm and bright.
And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:7
In an uncomfortable room, exhausted and overjoyed, Mary and Joseph let out a breath they’ve been holding for nine months. He’s here. We did it. God did it. As that newborn baby sleeps—however briefly—his mother closes her eyes and his adoptive father gazes in wonder at his son and at his wife. Many of us fret over the perfect snapshot for the family Christmas photo, but the holy family’s looks like this. Even when life is messy, even when the world is harsh, even when we don’t know what will happen after Christmas—there can be peace, and there can be a comfortable, holy silence.
Christmas sounds like this: It sounds like a baby’s cry; it sounds like a prophet in the wilderness. It sounds like an angel’s words and a choir’s song. It sounds like a woman in labor and like shepherds and kings at the door. But woven over and around all of that, it sounds like peace. It sounds like waiting. It sounds like wonder. And it sounds like silence.
As Christmas Day draws near, we’ll be exploring the themes of silence and sound in the Christmas story and in our lives. Twelve meditations are available for you, each with a listening recommendation from our Advent Spotify playlist.
What does your holiday season normally sound like? What do you wish you could hear, and how could you make space to listen? Today, when you find yourself in a moment without voices, without music or noise, a moment of silence—however brief—take a deep breath and ask God to be with you, and to meet you in the silent spaces of Advent.
Song: “It Came to Pass (Worthy Worthy)” - Vertical Worship
This song is part of our Silent Nights playlist on Spotify.