21
Hymn Reflection:
“And God Himself is born!”
Sometimes our most precious gifts come in moments when time stands still—moments that create a sacred space—allowing complete surrender to the love that flows from heaven. This was one of those moments.
The glow of flickering candlelight mingled with our voices as we sang in the darkened sanctuary. The atmosphere was rich with reverent anticipation—Christmas was almost here!
A young mother stood in front of me, swaying gently with the rhythm of the music. Her baby boy, whom I guessed to be a couple of months old, lay snuggled against her left shoulder. I marveled at this child’s miniature features—his eyes closed in the sweet dreaminess of sleep, his tiny hands gripping long, dark locks of his mother’s hair, and his little mouth the shape of a perfect kiss.
As I watched him, I was struck with the thought that not very long ago, this little one’s spirit left the very realm we were singing about to begin his life on earth. And then, without warning, the sleeping child opened his eyes, looked at me, and smiled.
In that sparkling moment, time—and my heart—stood still. His eyes held mine as the music wrapped us in a sweet embrace. There, in that sacred space, I felt as if I was looking upon the face of God.
Music has the wondrous ability to bring us into these blessed moments where we encounter our Creator. Through the inspired writing of Charles Wesley, we find ourselves transported into the very pages and events of the Scriptures. Wesley’s Nativity Hymn, “Glory Be to God on High,” ushers us into one of Scripture’s most sacred events on a quiet, dark night in Bethlehem—to a place bathed in the flickering light of a brilliant star. Here we stand as witnesses with the heavenly host as a King descends from his throne of glory to take his place among us. As the night sky resounds with the praise of angels, a baby boy is placed in a manger.
His tiny hand reaches out for comfort. His precious mouth opens for nourishment. His eyes look upward in search of a mother’s love. A tiny miracle has joined the human race: God himself is born!
Glory be to God on high,
And peace on earth descend;
Now God comes down, He bows the sky,
And shows Himself our friend!
God the invisible appears,
God the blest, the great I AM,
He sojourns in this vale of tears,
And Jesus is His name.
Him by the angels all adored,
Their maker and their king;
Lo, tidings of their humbled Lord
They now to mortals bring;
Emptied of His majesty,
Of His dazzling glories shorn,
Our being’s Source begins to be,
And God Himself is born!1
Is it our imagination, or do the stars themselves cry out with joy? Trembling shepherds with sleepy lambs add to our number, and together we approach the lowly stable to meet the blessed Child. In this sacred moment, we fall to our knees in surrender to the love that has arrived from heaven. Are not our hearts already bursting with the desire to belong to him?
The hand that formed the earth and skies reaches out to us in an offer of relationship and peace. The mouth that spoke all of creation into being opens to speak his truth to our hungry hearts and weary souls. The eyes that shine with eternal love look up to seek his image reflected in us.
And then he smiles.
Jennifer Wilder Morgan
1Charles Wesley, “Glory Be to God on High,” Hymnary.org, accessed July 17, 2019, https://hymnary.org/text/glory_be_to_god_on_high_and_peace_on.