Advent is an important time to listen to the sounds.  “Sleigh bells ring!  Are you listening?”  There is music everywhere, and unexpected sounds around every corner if we pay attention.  Our Christmas Carol for today is “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear” (words by Edmund H. Sears, 1849).  The sounds are the angels singing, and they are still singing today.

“Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled, and still their heavenly music floats o’er all the weary world; above its sad and lowly plains, they bend on hovering wing, and ever o’er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.”

The phrase that stands out for me is “ever o’er its Babel sounds”.  The words are reminiscent of the Old Testament story of the Tower of Babel.  (Genesis 10:32-11:9).  The people built a tower all the way up to the heavens.  Their thought was that if they could reach the heavens then they would be as God.  As a result their harmony was broken and their tongues became chaos.  They began to argue and fight.  Their babbling became noise and misunderstanding.  It is expressed here in my collage…

Now we know that the heavenly music came to earth at the time of Advent and its sound can  be heard above the misunderstandings of Babel.  Arriving on peaceful wings the sounds from Heaven bring unity and clarity….a new and deeper understanding among all of God’s children.  Wow!  Maybe we should perk up and listen!

nk

Pondering…

How are the sounds of Babel present today?

Let us listen carefully for the music of the Angels in our midst, carrying us to a new place.