Be Still

 “Sleep, sleep, sleep

'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth

The night is peaceful all around You

Close Your eyes

Let sleep surround You

Sleep, sleep, sleep

'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth”

--“Still, Still, Still”

I love the hush of Christmas Eve. Everything is quiet and still, the house lit only by a myriad of candles and a tree with way too many lights on it. That’s how my parents did it. And that’s how I do it. I love the silence that is the exclamation mark at the end of the shopping and baking frenzy and the comma that pauses life before the hoopla of Christmas day. For Christmas Eve, I love to sing the lullaby-like Christmas songs like “Silent Night,” “Away in a Manger” and the Austrian folk hymn “Still, Still, Still.”

For me “the eve of our Saviour’s birth” is a time to slow down and reflect on all He has done universally as well as all He has done for me personally. It’s a time to pray for the loved ones who bless my life whether I talk to them daily or only communicate with them at this time of year. It is a time to allow God’s peace to fill my heart, the peace He came into this world to bring as “God and sinners are reconciled.”