12 Days of Christmas -- for me (2 of 2)

  ...Despite finishing this days and days ago, I'm just now getting the second half up.  The last 6 Days of Christmas:

Another view of "our" deer.

—Day 7—

  The first 7 words of this verse:

Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

                                          Isaiah 41:10 

—Day 8—

  The first season (8 episodes) of The Chosen.  This powerful new show has given so many people, including me, a very personal, real, beautiful look at Jesus and the people who walked with Him that is neither “Hollywood-ized” or turned to stained glass and haloes.  Absolutely beautiful and soul-stirring. 

—Day 9—

  The number of different dance outlets I have per week this Fall through Spring.  The exact number always changes, year to year, but my love of and joy in them does not. 

  Some I teach, some I take myself, some I co-direct that only run half of the year, but I still think and plan and work on and prepare for all year though.  That’s really the case with every one of them, in varying degrees.  They inspire me, grow me, wear me out and fill me up, sometimes all at the same time. 

  I absolutely love all that I get to do with dance; 21 years and counting. 

—Day 10—

  Maybe cheesy, but... The 10th month: October.  We may not get much of a fall up here in the mountains, but when we do, even for a couple days, it’s glorious.  And magical. 

—Day 11—

  Isaiah 58:11

    The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

—Day 12—

  So much can happen in 12 months, and this last year hasn’t held anything back; sometimes in joy, sometimes difficulty, so many times unknowns and waiting.

  But ultimately, “I know the One in whom I have believed, and I know that He is able to keep that which I have entrusted to Him.  (2 Timothy 1:12)  And I live to tell the stories He presses on me. 

“When all is said and done, and we’ve built our greatest machines, there will still be someone to tell you a story, and someone to write a beautiful piece of music. ...One word: Story.”

                                                                          —Hans Zimmer 

“Life and death of a culture is dependent on

who is telling the stories.”

                                                 —John Fornof

12 Days of Christmas -- for me (1 of 2)

  As we're headed into a new year, in just a short time, I'm still reflecting on Christmas.  Maybe next year I can do this one day at a time in the days following Christmas, like I want to...

  But for now, I'll just do this in two chunks.  Reflecting on one thing a day that relates to the number of the 12 days from Christmas onward; something that's meaningful to me this year about the number 1 for Christmas day, then related to 2 on the next day, and so on.
  Here's my first 6 days...

Some of the deer that frequent our yard.

—Day 1—
  John 1:1-5
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

—Day 2—
  The two main things God's been pointing me to repeatedly this year about Himself;
                  —first, that He is a God of joy
                  —second, that He knows and He hears 

—Day 3—

  These 3 verses:  Isaiah 40:28-29, 31

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ...But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

—Day 4—

  4 lines from the Christmas carol, Welcome To Our World:

“So wrap or injured flesh around You; 

breathe our air and walk our sod; 

rob our sin and make us holy, perfect Son of God. 

Welcome to our world.”

—Day 5—

  The 5 words at the end of this verse, Hebrews 10:23:

...Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for 

                                He who promised is faithful.

—Day 6—

  The (not at all overstated) epic and gorgeous version of this hymn I listened to at least 6 times in a row when I first saw it: 

(it’s absolutely one of my new favorite tales on a song EVER)

     I Wonder As I Wonder [Epic Version] — Simon Khorolskiy

Merry Christmas, 2018

Merry Christmas to you today.
  May awe and gratitude for what our God has done for us move us in new ways this year and in those to come.

‘Rank on rank the host of heaven
                  spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,

                                    that pow’rs of hell may vanish

                                              as the darkness clears away.’

—'Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence' (hymn, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams)

  “I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And mild and sweet their songs repeat
Of peace on earth good will to men. 

  And the bells are ringing, peace on earth!
Like a choir they're singing, peace on earth!
In my heart I hear them;
Peace on earth, good will to men. 

  And in despair I bowed my head.
“There is no peace on earth,” I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men. 

  But the bells are ringing, peace on earth! 
Like a choir singing, peace on earth! 
Does anybody hear them?
Peace on earth, good will to men. 

  Then rang the bells more loud and deep:
God is not dead, nor does He sleep!
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men!

Then ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day;
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

  And the bells are ringing, peace on earth!
Like the angels, singing, peace on earth!”

                                    —Henry W. Longfellow  (as sung by Casting Crowns)

(Pictures, quotes, etc. always belong to their original owners.  They are shown here for inspiration only, and I make no claim on anything that is not originally my own.)

Merry Christmas 2017

  A very  Merry Christmas  to you!

(A beautiful art print by Fellowship For the Performing Arts )

  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born

                              to you;  He is the Messiah,

                                                     the Lord.

                                                                                                   Luke 2:11 

  This song has been the theme for me for Christmas this year.  David Phelps's beautiful 'Agnus Dei'.

  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: fear not,

        O Zion, be not discouraged!  The Lord, your God,

                                           is in your midst.

                                                                                                   Zephaniah 3:16-17a 


  And though you won't be gearing up for Christmas after today, I wanted to leave you a thought to ponder even as we head toward a new year, and more Christmases to come.

  Beware of playing into cynicism during Christmas.

  It’s far too easy to get disgusted with and brush off traditions, and carols especially, in the name of their being “unrealistic” or “incorrect”. And something in many of them may be. But please have the grace to remember 3 important things;

  First — Most of us (even if a few might dabble in it) are /not/ songwriters. Rhythm, sound, etc. come into consideration as well as meaning; no, not an excuse for mistaken theology, but just remember that we don’t really know all that goes into it.
  Second — Remember that most transcendent carols were written in long-past centuries. Yes, they may have gotten some things wrong, but take note of, and learn from, their reverence, wisdom and insight - they had a great deal of it.
  Lastly — Don’t treat these songs as if they were written to make money or mislead people. Remember, these writers were trying to express an aspect of the wonder of what God has done that had captured their hearts, something that stirred them to praise and awe.

Just take the same amount of time this Christmas that you catch yourself noticing flaws in traditional carols, and appreciate and be awed by the heart of what the writer was trying to express.

  Only God is flawless. And the Lord has truly done great things for us!

'If Christmas Never Came' —David Phelps

(As always, all pictures, quotes, videos, songs, etc. belong to their ORIGINAL owners and are left with links where possible — I don't claim any of them, and they are here only for inspiration.  All other words, thoughts, etc. are my own.)

Merry Christmas 2016

  A very Merry Christmas, everyone!!

  The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; we beheld the glory of the Father,  full of grace and truth.

                                                                                        John 1:14

  In Him was life and that life was the light of men.

                                                                                      John 1:4

  And a beautiful thought from N.D. Wilson:

'This is the night
that laid us low

This is the night
of a manger throne

This is the night
we were born.'

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everybody!

       

  I saw this article in our last World Magazine, and thought it was a great reminder to put up for this beautiful, starry, wonder-filled season of Christmas.  :)

           Joyful chiming 

The Christian life should be one of intense expectation. 

          By Andree Seu Peterson  --  World Magazine, Dec. 2015

'All over America small children will be lying awake waiting for Santa Claus, listening for deer hooves, hoping for snow. You may remember what intense expectation was like. You had it once.

   ...Christmas expectation tended to lessen as we got older and socks and overalls replaced Erector Sets and Besty Wetsy dolls as presents. (Expectation should lay hold of funner stuff.)

The ancient Jews, there was an expectant lot. A litany of failures notwithstanding, the last prophet’s voice is still heard singing of Messiah: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet. … And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children” (Malachi 4:5-6). On what basis this most sanguine song? Their merits? Nay, God’s faithfulness to promises: “For I, the Lord, do not change” (3:6).
  
In the dawning of Anno Domini are individuals in expectation all over lowly Judea, as the earth holds its breath and Mary keeps her secrets. Softly she touches her roundness and dreams. Yonder old Zechariah, scribbling on a chalkboard to Elizabeth, doubts no more. Anna, invisible old widow, save to God, keeps daily vigil at the temple, and is not disappointed.

It is all too common and too sad that by adulthood Christmas bells should grow so faint that only children hear them.

Loss of expectation is loss of faith. It has to be. What else is faith but expectation? Ray Stedman in Authentic Christianity lists “five unmistakable qualities of Christianity” that he says “cannot be successfully counterfeited”—and “unquenchable optimism” tops the list. His prime example is Paul and Silas finding themselves in a jail in Philippi and singing for joy: Things look so bad, God must be up to something good.

The opposite is the man who thinks things look so good, God must be up to something bad. Like “the lean, hard-bitten man” C.S. Lewis considers in The Great Divorce. You show him heaven and he thinks there’s a catch to it, and grumbles about going back to the old town: 

“I guess I’ve seen about all there is to see. … All propaganda. … All that idea of staying is only an advertisement stunt. … When I was out east, I went to see Pekin. … Nothing to it. Just one darn wall inside another. Just a trap for tourists. … All run by the same people. … Hell? Yes. It’s a flop too. They lead you to expect red fire and devils and all sorts of interesting people sizzling on grids—Henry VIII and all that—but when you get there it’s just like any other town.” 

When his humble companion suggests that he might get to like heaven if he gave it a chance, Hard-Bitten replies, “I know all about that. … Same old lie. People have been telling me that sort of thing all my life. They told me in nursery that if I were good I’d be happy. And they told me in school that Latin would get easier as I went on. And after I’d been married a month, some fool was telling me that there were always difficulties at first, but with Tact and Patience I’d soon ‘settle down’ and like it!” 

Mistrust of God is the opposite of expectation.

      
I got prayed up and my husband got prayed up and I drove to a long-planned, long-awaited appointment where I would talk to a young man I love about eternal life. The meeting went as badly as it could go, and I was ready to hang up my expectations. My husband then said words to this effect: “What if the devil’s finest work is to make us give up believing in God, and expecting from Him, just when we should dig in? You and I are going to pray that whether in 24 hours or 24 years, God will use your fumbling words for good in the life of that young man.” 

Let us rekindle expectation this Christmas season and beyond. It is all too common and too sad that by adulthood Christmas bells should grow so faint that only children hear them. You heard the joyful chiming once. Be that child again. '

            

'Just a simple maiden, with her hands stretched out to God.

Saying, "Lord, Thy will be done. I will abide."

Just a simple stable; looking back, it does seem odd

That God Himself would enter there inside.

But one wintry night the starry universe
Went whirling upside down,
And everything that was, was not the same.
One wintry night a supernatural birth
Left heaven and earth spellbound,
As the Mysterious Omniscient took a name.Darkness fled from Light, wrong was made right,
In just one wintry night.

Just a simple carpenter who found himself in love
With a girl bearing the Child of the Divine. Just a simple manger yet, somehow it was enough,
To accommodate the God of space and time.

...Don't you know the angels were breathless,
As He stepped down off His throne,
Into the cosmos His own hands had made.

Don't you know that darkness protested,
As its reign was overthrown,
And victory was declared with Love's display.
One wintry night the starry universe
Went whirling upside down,

And everything that was, was not the same.
One wintry night a supernatural birth
Left heaven and earth spellbound,
As the Mysterious Omniscient took a name.
Darkness fled from Light, wrong was made right,
In just one wintry night.'

                                                    (--David Phelps, 'One Wintry Night')

                 

  (As always, all images, articles, quotes, lyrics, etc. belong to their original owners.)

Christmas day

  Merry Christmas!


  For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
and the government will be upon His shoulders, and His name shall be called
                  Wonderful Counselor,
                        Mighty God,
                  Everlasting Father,
                        Prince of Peace.

  Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David...
               The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

                                                                                                  Isaiah 9:6-7

 

 

       All Beautiful the March of Days

  'All beautiful the march of days, as seasons come and go;
The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought the crystal of the snow;
Hath sent the hoary frost of Heav'n, the flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness on hill and wood and field.

  O'er white expanses sparkling pure the radiant morns unfold;
The solemn splendors of the night burn brighter than the cold;
Life mounts in every throbbing vein, love deepens round the hearth,
And clearer sounds the angel hymn, "Good will to men on earth,"

  O Thou from Whose unfathomed law the year in beauty flows,
Thyself the vision passing by in crystal and in rose,
Day unto day doth utter speech, and night to night proclaim,
In ever changing words of light, the wonder of Thy Name.'

                                                                                  --Willard L. Metcalf  (1858-1925)

 

 

  "Veiled in flesh, the God-head see;
hail the incarnate Deity.
Pleased as Man with men to dwell--
Jesus, our Emmanuel."
                                                  --Hark! The Herald Angels Sing (traditional)


  Did you realize...

             That Jesus was born the King of kings,
                                                 and not a prince first?

 

  That night, the stable sheltered
                               Something
                                          older than the stars--
       Yet having drawn breath with human lungs for only a few minutes;  Something too great to be contained in the universe, yet small enough to be held in human arms;  Something with infinite power, yet concealed in the skin of a helpless human infant;
                        And that Something
                                                         --that Someone--
                   was more real than anything else
               in all the world.

(pictures not mine - all are the property of their original owners)

I heard the bells

     Christmas Bells
                    poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
                                           written December 25th, 1864




'I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!







And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!" '




                                                  ~     ~     ~
  I love this version of the poem, sung beautifully by Casting Crowns;
                               (I'm currently working on an aerial silks routine to this song.  Perhaps after I finish and film
                                                                                                                        it, I'll post it sometime...)


         I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day -- Casting Crowns 


                                                  ~     ~     ~