1 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:08,959 S1: She is one of your favorite recurring guests on Chris 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:13,440 S1: Fabry Live, and she returns today with words. Words to 3 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,480 S1: express what we can express on our own. This is 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:20,600 S1: the power of poetry. It's the power of the Psalms, 5 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:23,960 S1: the writers of the Psalms put into words the longing 6 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,000 S1: of our hearts, the struggle with an enemy, the horror 7 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:31,360 S1: of our own sin, and the loving kindness and mercy 8 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:34,040 S1: of God. And then you come to a time of 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,000 S1: year like this, when the hopes and fears of all 10 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:40,720 S1: the years meet in a manger, a cattle trough where 11 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,800 S1: the infant Jesus lays, and we have to borrow words 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:51,520 S1: to express the enormity, the cataclysmic reality of what happened 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,920 S1: there and what happens in here because of what happened there. 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,520 S1: So today, Doctor Rosalee De Ross is back. We'll get 15 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:01,710 S1: to her right after I thank the team. There's always 16 00:01:01,710 --> 00:01:04,149 S1: a team. Anytime you hear somebody on the radio, there's 17 00:01:04,190 --> 00:01:07,350 S1: a team behind the voice. And for me, Ryan McConaughey's 18 00:01:07,350 --> 00:01:11,430 S1: doing all things technical. Trisha is our producer. Lisa is 19 00:01:11,470 --> 00:01:15,110 S1: helping out round, Josh is helping out, and the other 20 00:01:15,110 --> 00:01:17,510 S1: team members are the friends and partners who support us 21 00:01:17,510 --> 00:01:20,030 S1: with a gift, especially here at the end of the year. 22 00:01:20,030 --> 00:01:22,390 S1: Wendy just became a back fence partner. She's given a 23 00:01:22,430 --> 00:01:25,230 S1: gift each month and she wrote. It inspires me to 24 00:01:25,270 --> 00:01:28,470 S1: learn as much as I can about Jesus. It inspires 25 00:01:28,470 --> 00:01:31,429 S1: me to not just read the Bible, but listen to 26 00:01:31,510 --> 00:01:35,750 S1: what God is telling me personally. Thumbs up to that, Wendy. 27 00:01:35,750 --> 00:01:38,630 S1: I love Moody Radio. She says, well, if you agree 28 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:41,149 S1: with Wendy, become a partner or you can give a 29 00:01:41,150 --> 00:01:43,990 S1: one time gift, a year end gift. And as our 30 00:01:43,990 --> 00:01:46,750 S1: thank you, we're going to send a beautiful hardcover book 31 00:01:46,750 --> 00:01:50,910 S1: by David and Barbara Leamon, Hosanna in Excelsis Hymns and 32 00:01:50,910 --> 00:01:54,390 S1: Devotions for the Christmas Season. You will want to keep 33 00:01:54,390 --> 00:01:56,950 S1: this for years to come. Let me put you on 34 00:01:56,950 --> 00:02:03,020 S1: the spot, Rosie. There's 43 hymns. Christmas carols in here. 35 00:02:03,020 --> 00:02:05,060 S1: I want you to pick one and tell me one, 36 00:02:05,060 --> 00:02:06,260 S1: and I'm going to look it up. 37 00:02:06,860 --> 00:02:09,060 S2: Oh, I think Silent Night. 38 00:02:09,500 --> 00:02:13,619 S1: All right, silent night it is. Joseph Moore grew up 39 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:17,300 S1: in poverty, living with his mother and grandmother. His father, 40 00:02:17,300 --> 00:02:21,180 S1: a soldier, was absent from his life. The choirmaster of 41 00:02:21,180 --> 00:02:24,260 S1: his church saw potential in Joseph and served as his 42 00:02:24,260 --> 00:02:28,340 S1: foster father. He saw to it that Joseph, an honor student, 43 00:02:28,340 --> 00:02:31,500 S1: was well-educated. Joseph went on to be ordained as a 44 00:02:31,500 --> 00:02:34,940 S1: priest in 1815, and became a beloved pastor in several 45 00:02:34,940 --> 00:02:39,180 S1: parishes throughout Austria. When he died, he was as poor 46 00:02:39,220 --> 00:02:42,299 S1: as he had been as a child, giving away his 47 00:02:42,300 --> 00:02:45,180 S1: money to educate the children and care for the elderly 48 00:02:45,180 --> 00:02:49,139 S1: of his parish. Today, the Joseph Moore School, a memorial 49 00:02:49,139 --> 00:02:54,220 S1: from the townspeople, stands in the alpine village of Wagrain, Austria. 50 00:02:54,740 --> 00:02:59,530 S1: But his last parish and his last parish and burial place. 51 00:03:00,010 --> 00:03:03,490 S1: Only a year after his ordination, Moore wrote a poem 52 00:03:03,810 --> 00:03:09,290 S1: while at his first parish titled Stille Nacht, heilig enact. 53 00:03:09,770 --> 00:03:13,690 S1: The Napoleonic Wars had divided the country. A time of 54 00:03:13,690 --> 00:03:18,570 S1: peace and calm was desperately needed. Two years later, Moore 55 00:03:18,570 --> 00:03:23,250 S1: was serving in Oberndorf, where Franz Gruber was organist. Legend 56 00:03:23,250 --> 00:03:27,130 S1: says Moore asked Gruber to write the tune for guitar 57 00:03:27,130 --> 00:03:30,810 S1: because the church organ was broken. Although the broken organ 58 00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:33,850 S1: theory has not been proven, the fact that it was 59 00:03:33,889 --> 00:03:37,570 S1: a simple tune for guitar accompaniment is undisputed. It can 60 00:03:37,570 --> 00:03:41,130 S1: be played with only three chords. It was first performed 61 00:03:41,130 --> 00:03:47,610 S1: December 24th, 1818 for the Midnight Mass. Stille Nacht, of course, 62 00:03:48,050 --> 00:03:52,650 S1: is are the two first words in German, and then 63 00:03:52,690 --> 00:03:56,160 S1: the devotion for that day is as you sing the hymn, 64 00:03:56,440 --> 00:04:00,200 S1: do it quietly and calmly. Have you ever been present 65 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:02,080 S1: at the birth of a baby? It can be an 66 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,040 S1: atmosphere of worry, nervousness, even panic. But this carol paints 67 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,440 S1: a different picture of the birth of Christ. The music 68 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:15,080 S1: portrays a calm, silent night. Why? Not because more or 69 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,560 S1: Gruber knew that Jesus birth was particularly peaceful, but because 70 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:23,279 S1: Jesus birth alone would bring true peace to the world. 71 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,080 S1: The shepherds certainly had some excitement. The quake at the 72 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,640 S1: sight and they came with haste. But we picture complete 73 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:34,680 S1: serenity and calm when they entered the stable. Do you 74 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:39,600 S1: have difficulty finding silence and quiet? A friend tells of 75 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,840 S1: his annual hunting trip into the deep woods of Upper Michigan, 76 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:48,320 S1: but he just purposes this to sit perfectly still on 77 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:53,080 S1: a stump for long hours of quiet and simply watch 78 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,110 S1: the deer and the surrounding nature and extended time to 79 00:04:57,150 --> 00:05:01,950 S1: meditate and pray. Such silence is so absent in our 80 00:05:01,950 --> 00:05:07,870 S1: lives in this noisy world. Silent night. Rosie, that's a 81 00:05:07,870 --> 00:05:09,830 S1: good one. Did you know? Did you know any of that? 82 00:05:09,870 --> 00:05:12,150 S2: I did not know that, no. Or if I have, 83 00:05:12,150 --> 00:05:15,190 S2: I have forgotten it. That's lovely. Yeah. Wow. 84 00:05:15,550 --> 00:05:18,510 S1: And this is in the book Hosanna in excelsis. And 85 00:05:18,510 --> 00:05:20,870 S1: I want to send you a copy. But I can't 86 00:05:20,870 --> 00:05:23,190 S1: do it unless you call us or click through. Go 87 00:05:23,190 --> 00:05:26,630 S1: to Chris org. Scroll down. You'll see right there how 88 00:05:26,630 --> 00:05:29,229 S1: you can support what we do at the back fence 89 00:05:29,230 --> 00:05:32,669 S1: and get a copy of Hosanna and Chelsea's Chris Fabry, 90 00:05:34,350 --> 00:05:42,910 S1: or the number is 86695. You can do it that way. (866) 953-2279. Uh, 91 00:05:42,950 --> 00:05:46,190 S1: we are only nine days in, and we got a 92 00:05:46,670 --> 00:05:49,470 S1: we got a mountain to climb in December. Thanks for 93 00:05:49,470 --> 00:05:53,020 S1: your support of the radio. Backyard fence. All right, now, 94 00:05:53,020 --> 00:05:56,340 S1: let me introduce Doctor Rosalee de rosette, adjunct professor of 95 00:05:56,339 --> 00:06:00,179 S1: literature at Moody Bible Institute, where she has taught. Get ready, 96 00:06:00,180 --> 00:06:06,540 S1: take a deep breath for 56.5 years. Can you believe that, Rosie? 97 00:06:06,620 --> 00:06:11,940 S2: No. It makes me wonder why I'm still walking around. 98 00:06:12,980 --> 00:06:15,900 S1: You are. And you're doing great. And the book that 99 00:06:15,900 --> 00:06:18,260 S1: we have talked about for the last few years is 100 00:06:18,460 --> 00:06:21,940 S1: Seduced and Unshaken the place of Dignity in a woman's Choices. 101 00:06:21,940 --> 00:06:24,780 S1: I have the copy that says Young Woman's because it 102 00:06:24,779 --> 00:06:27,660 S1: was it's so old and that you signed for me. 103 00:06:27,660 --> 00:06:30,380 S1: Thank you for doing that. Um, and that's our featured 104 00:06:30,380 --> 00:06:33,460 S1: resource today. If you go to Chris. Org. All right. 105 00:06:33,460 --> 00:06:36,860 S1: Let's start out, Rosie, you've been thinking about, uh, the 106 00:06:36,980 --> 00:06:40,660 S1: topic of courage. I think as we come to this time. 107 00:06:40,660 --> 00:06:41,540 S1: Tell me about that. 108 00:06:42,060 --> 00:06:44,979 S2: It strikes me, I suppose, because I'm getting older and 109 00:06:44,980 --> 00:06:49,180 S2: coming into those unexpected difficulties and uneven places in life, 110 00:06:49,180 --> 00:06:51,650 S2: but which are also part of many people's lives, As 111 00:06:51,650 --> 00:06:56,130 S2: I was talking to Trish earlier and many people that 112 00:06:56,130 --> 00:06:58,850 S2: Christmas is a wonderful time, but it is a time 113 00:06:58,850 --> 00:07:01,530 S2: that can demand a kind of a courage, not even 114 00:07:01,570 --> 00:07:04,489 S2: demand it, that we look at it with courage. Because 115 00:07:04,529 --> 00:07:08,289 S2: courage is so much a part of the entire Christmas experience, 116 00:07:08,650 --> 00:07:10,730 S2: and we can become kind of indifferent even in our 117 00:07:10,730 --> 00:07:14,570 S2: Christian churches. We can give lip service to the words, 118 00:07:14,570 --> 00:07:18,490 S2: but we don't sense the really awe inspiring quality and 119 00:07:18,530 --> 00:07:21,970 S2: the and the the courage. And as as you said 120 00:07:22,010 --> 00:07:25,970 S2: yesterday with in your program with, with John, you know, 121 00:07:26,010 --> 00:07:29,370 S2: facing the melancholy, the realities and still coming to the 122 00:07:29,370 --> 00:07:34,250 S2: understanding of what this event is all about. Um, it's 123 00:07:34,690 --> 00:07:37,330 S2: the coming of God is truly not only glad tidings, 124 00:07:37,330 --> 00:07:40,570 S2: but it's also frightening news for everyone who has a 125 00:07:40,570 --> 00:07:45,650 S2: conscience and also a time to reflect on what is 126 00:07:45,650 --> 00:07:47,970 S2: the joy of it. In spite of the things that 127 00:07:47,970 --> 00:07:51,600 S2: are happening to us in our lives. And Bonhoeffer sort 128 00:07:51,600 --> 00:07:53,760 S2: of alluded to that. And who would know better than 129 00:07:53,760 --> 00:07:56,760 S2: than he, of course. But there is a poem that 130 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,720 S2: I have that that by Oscar Romero that notes. It's 131 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,000 S2: called The God We Hardly Knew. No one can celebrate 132 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,480 S2: a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. And we're not 133 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,320 S2: talking about worldly goods there. I think it's metaphorical. It 134 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:14,040 S2: can be that. But also the self-sufficient, the proud, those who, 135 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,240 S2: because they have everything, look down on others. Those who 136 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:20,320 S2: have no need even of God. For them there will 137 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,960 S2: be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, those of 138 00:08:23,960 --> 00:08:26,920 S2: us who are spiritually kind of on our on on 139 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:29,800 S2: our downtimes where it's not the perfect picture anymore. Things 140 00:08:29,800 --> 00:08:33,480 S2: are are hard in this month. Those who need someone 141 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:37,160 S2: to come on their behalf will have that someone, and 142 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:43,280 S2: that someone is God. Emmanuel. God with us. Without poverty 143 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,079 S2: of spirit, there can be no abundance of God. So 144 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:49,270 S2: when we come with all these needs. And when we 145 00:08:49,309 --> 00:08:53,310 S2: come with our sadnesses, those things can be transformed in 146 00:08:53,350 --> 00:08:57,550 S2: a way into that quiet kind of joy. Not the happiness, exactly, 147 00:08:57,590 --> 00:09:01,550 S2: but which is often almost always circumstantial, but just that 148 00:09:01,550 --> 00:09:04,310 S2: firm knowledge that God is with us. And I think 149 00:09:04,309 --> 00:09:06,589 S2: we feel that most deeply when we need him to 150 00:09:06,590 --> 00:09:07,470 S2: be with us. 151 00:09:07,990 --> 00:09:09,430 S1: Blessed are the poor in spirit. 152 00:09:09,750 --> 00:09:10,630 S2: Right, exactly. 153 00:09:10,830 --> 00:09:14,990 S1: The and and if you realize that that's the first 154 00:09:14,990 --> 00:09:19,150 S1: step is to see it and and inhabit that even 155 00:09:19,150 --> 00:09:22,510 S1: if you maybe, you know, very, very successful, you know, 156 00:09:22,510 --> 00:09:26,390 S1: kind of up and out rather than down and out. Uh, 157 00:09:26,429 --> 00:09:32,390 S1: if you realize that that poorness of spirit, you can say, oh, God, 158 00:09:32,710 --> 00:09:36,830 S1: enter in right here, right where meek souls will receive him. 159 00:09:36,830 --> 00:09:38,949 S1: Still the dear Christ enters in. Right. 160 00:09:39,270 --> 00:09:41,350 S2: Exactly. It's exactly that. 161 00:09:41,870 --> 00:09:45,030 S1: Rosie has a bunch of poems for us today. And 162 00:09:45,030 --> 00:09:48,339 S1: as I said in the open, that whole idea of 163 00:09:48,380 --> 00:09:51,300 S1: these are words from people who have tried, who have 164 00:09:51,300 --> 00:09:55,220 S1: pondered these things in their hearts and are thinking deeply 165 00:09:55,220 --> 00:09:58,219 S1: about them. So she has some poetry for us. And 166 00:09:58,220 --> 00:10:00,340 S1: if you want to join us on the phone, I'll 167 00:10:00,340 --> 00:10:09,980 S1: open the phone lines 87754836758775483675 or go to the website. 168 00:10:09,980 --> 00:10:14,020 S1: Chris Fabry lives. As we kind of slow down, we 169 00:10:14,020 --> 00:10:17,860 S1: take a breath and we look at the courage of Christmas. 170 00:10:18,100 --> 00:10:51,450 S1: Straight ahead on Moody Radio. Rosie is back. Doctor. Rosalie 171 00:10:51,490 --> 00:10:54,850 S1: de rosé, of course. Adjunct professor of literature at Moody 172 00:10:54,850 --> 00:10:58,770 S1: Bible Institute. Author of Seduced and Unshaken The Place of 173 00:10:58,770 --> 00:11:01,770 S1: Dignity in a Woman's Choices. And we're talking about Christmas. 174 00:11:01,770 --> 00:11:06,970 S1: We're talking about these words from those of yesteryear who 175 00:11:07,010 --> 00:11:11,050 S1: have written well, about what Christmas is really all about. 176 00:11:11,050 --> 00:11:13,569 S1: And do you agree with me about poetry and the Psalms, 177 00:11:13,570 --> 00:11:16,850 S1: especially that it that it gives us words for the 178 00:11:16,850 --> 00:11:21,330 S1: things that we go through that we can't put words to? 179 00:11:21,530 --> 00:11:24,890 S2: Oh, it's like a lightning form of language. It speaks 180 00:11:24,890 --> 00:11:28,569 S2: to me every time I just when I was preparing 181 00:11:28,570 --> 00:11:30,850 S2: this and saw all these poems, and I was trying 182 00:11:30,850 --> 00:11:32,569 S2: to do some new ones that we haven't done so 183 00:11:32,570 --> 00:11:35,970 S2: much before. I just, I just felt something it just 184 00:11:36,010 --> 00:11:38,130 S2: it goes to the deepest parts of who I am. 185 00:11:38,130 --> 00:11:41,370 S2: It brings in the complexity of the event and of 186 00:11:41,370 --> 00:11:44,250 S2: my life, and it soothes me. It soothes me. 187 00:11:45,390 --> 00:11:50,150 S1: And it really distills its, you know, great poetry, distills 188 00:11:50,150 --> 00:11:53,870 S1: it down to its its essence so that you can 189 00:11:53,870 --> 00:11:56,910 S1: chew on it and think about it and ruminate. And 190 00:11:56,950 --> 00:11:58,870 S1: so take us into another poem. 191 00:11:58,910 --> 00:12:01,270 S2: Yeah. Well, we always do this poem every single year 192 00:12:01,270 --> 00:12:03,710 S2: that I've done poetry with you. And I want to 193 00:12:03,710 --> 00:12:06,429 S2: do it every year because I think it is so powerful. 194 00:12:06,670 --> 00:12:08,910 S2: And it introduces, first of all, we want to talk 195 00:12:08,910 --> 00:12:11,150 S2: about the courage of Mary. And that's a very, very 196 00:12:11,150 --> 00:12:14,390 S2: important thing for us to do. And Madeleine L'Engle, the 197 00:12:14,429 --> 00:12:19,350 S2: late Madeleine L'Engle, wrote this wonderful four line poem that 198 00:12:19,350 --> 00:12:24,270 S2: says so much, this is the irrational season when love 199 00:12:24,350 --> 00:12:29,710 S2: Broom's blooms bright and wild. Had Mary been filled with reason, 200 00:12:30,110 --> 00:12:33,829 S2: there'd been no room for the child? And you think 201 00:12:33,830 --> 00:12:36,590 S2: in an era in which we have undervalued children, in 202 00:12:36,590 --> 00:12:39,270 S2: so many of them have, of course, been destroyed. You 203 00:12:39,270 --> 00:12:43,420 S2: think about this is this is irrational, young girl. I mean, 204 00:12:43,620 --> 00:12:47,860 S2: the account is always a scintillating and sharp, no matter 205 00:12:47,860 --> 00:12:51,060 S2: how many times we read it. She had she been 206 00:12:51,059 --> 00:12:54,140 S2: filled with reason there wouldn't have been room for the child. 207 00:12:55,020 --> 00:13:00,140 S2: She simply not simply. She accepted it. Finally, from the 208 00:13:00,179 --> 00:13:00,980 S2: hand of God. 209 00:13:01,620 --> 00:13:02,500 S1: She said yes. 210 00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:03,460 S2: She said yes. 211 00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,860 S1: We're going to do a whole. We had a conversation 212 00:13:06,860 --> 00:13:11,460 S1: last year with Amy or Ewing about Mary that will 213 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:14,819 S1: play during Christmas week, but that is what comes back 214 00:13:14,820 --> 00:13:18,420 S1: to me again. It's like you could portray her as 215 00:13:18,460 --> 00:13:22,579 S1: kind of a passive, you know, it's like, okay, whatever, 216 00:13:22,620 --> 00:13:25,340 S1: you know? But no, it wasn't it. No, she she 217 00:13:25,340 --> 00:13:28,900 S1: had questions. She was how can this be. Which was 218 00:13:28,900 --> 00:13:33,420 S1: different than Zechariah, you know, had asked his was was 219 00:13:33,460 --> 00:13:37,420 S1: as I, you know, again this year processing it. Yeah. 220 00:13:37,500 --> 00:13:42,570 S1: His was more doubt oriented. It was hers was. She 221 00:13:42,570 --> 00:13:45,690 S1: believed that God had the power to do this. But 222 00:13:45,690 --> 00:13:48,610 S1: how can this be since I've never known a man? 223 00:13:48,929 --> 00:13:50,650 S1: You know, that's just an honest question. 224 00:13:50,690 --> 00:13:54,570 S2: Just an honest question. Whereas his wanted information to cover 225 00:13:54,570 --> 00:13:57,330 S2: the fear or the doubt that came to him. And 226 00:13:57,330 --> 00:14:01,410 S2: so he struck dumb. And she is given the Magnificat, 227 00:14:01,570 --> 00:14:04,929 S2: you know, she is given words and in a song 228 00:14:04,929 --> 00:14:10,089 S2: that is, uh, that is groundbreaking for its, uh, reflections 229 00:14:10,090 --> 00:14:13,730 S2: on the poor and on the Jewish people. So, yeah. 230 00:14:13,770 --> 00:14:16,410 S2: And it just took great courage. And L'Engle has actually 231 00:14:16,410 --> 00:14:19,610 S2: written another poem that is really beautiful, and it's called 232 00:14:19,610 --> 00:14:22,730 S2: The Risk of Birth. This is no time for a 233 00:14:22,730 --> 00:14:26,130 S2: child to be born with the earth, betrayed by war 234 00:14:26,130 --> 00:14:29,690 S2: and hate in a comet slashing the sky to warn 235 00:14:29,730 --> 00:14:33,610 S2: that time runs out in the sun, burns late. This 236 00:14:33,610 --> 00:14:35,930 S2: was no time for a child to be born in 237 00:14:35,930 --> 00:14:39,050 S2: a land in the crushing grip of Rome. Honor and 238 00:14:39,050 --> 00:14:42,960 S2: truth were trampled by scorn. Yet here did the Savior 239 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,880 S2: make his home. When is the time for love to 240 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,840 S2: be born? The inn is full on the planet Earth. 241 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,320 S2: And by a comet the sky is torn. Yet love 242 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:57,560 S2: still takes the risk of birth. I mean that that 243 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:58,440 S2: just says everything. 244 00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:00,000 S1: The love in that is a. 245 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,320 S2: Capital L, of course. And this. Look at this world. 246 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:06,240 S2: I mean, you hear sometimes I've had my friends say 247 00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,360 S2: that their grandchildren say, I don't want to bring a 248 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,240 S2: child into this world. And they have something to say 249 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:13,480 S2: about that. There is no good time to bring a 250 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,720 S2: child into this world. We take the risk of birth. 251 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:22,720 S1: No. And that the cry that broke the silent night. 252 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:28,200 S1: You know, the cry of the Savior that was being born. 253 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:33,800 S1: Who was born. Um, you just reverberates. It echoes. But 254 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:36,440 S1: it was just the cry of a child. There are 255 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,680 S1: a lot of other children that were born, you know, 256 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:39,950 S1: around that time. 257 00:15:39,990 --> 00:15:40,150 S2: Of. 258 00:15:40,150 --> 00:15:45,390 S1: Course, that that didn't that didn't show what God was 259 00:15:45,390 --> 00:15:48,910 S1: doing in the world. And so I I'm stuck, though, 260 00:15:48,950 --> 00:15:53,630 S1: on what L'Engle wrote in, um, irrational season when love 261 00:15:53,670 --> 00:15:57,390 S1: blooms bright and wild. Now love is the small l 262 00:15:57,430 --> 00:16:00,230 S1: there when love blooms bright and wild. And I can 263 00:16:00,230 --> 00:16:06,950 S1: only think about the sentimentality. The, uh, you know, the 264 00:16:07,470 --> 00:16:12,470 S1: dating around Christmas time and all, you know, love, love 265 00:16:12,510 --> 00:16:14,910 S1: blooming and the hallmark movies and all that kind of stuff. 266 00:16:14,950 --> 00:16:16,990 S2: Long shiny hair meets handsome plumber. 267 00:16:17,030 --> 00:16:22,110 S1: Yeah, yeah. You hope. You hope he knows how to bloom. 268 00:16:22,150 --> 00:16:27,390 S1: Unless she's the plumber. Um, but the the the vacuity, 269 00:16:27,430 --> 00:16:31,670 S1: the vacuousness of the kind of love that blooms bright 270 00:16:31,670 --> 00:16:35,870 S1: and wild and then goes away. This kind of love 271 00:16:35,950 --> 00:16:36,950 S1: stays right. 272 00:16:37,150 --> 00:16:40,580 S2: Stays and it remains bright and wild for 33 years 273 00:16:40,580 --> 00:16:44,420 S2: on Earth, doing the unpredictable, reaching out to women in 274 00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:47,940 S2: unusual ways, asking good questions of his disciples. I mean, 275 00:16:48,100 --> 00:16:51,860 S2: I've been reading Luke just incidentally for the last couple 276 00:16:51,900 --> 00:16:54,900 S2: of months, and it is just so stunning to read 277 00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:58,220 S2: the miracle accounts and to read his voice. Christ has 278 00:16:58,220 --> 00:17:02,740 S2: such a strong personality and voice, and I urge everybody 279 00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:06,179 S2: to read it to get beyond, you know, the the, 280 00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:09,020 S2: the manger scene in your church and the cute little children. 281 00:17:09,020 --> 00:17:12,540 S2: And to see the absolute power and strength of of 282 00:17:12,540 --> 00:17:16,060 S2: Christ's life on earth, beginning with, of course, the wonderful 283 00:17:16,060 --> 00:17:18,219 S2: account of Mary's calling. 284 00:17:18,980 --> 00:17:23,780 S1: I have a hard time sometimes envisioning. It's almost like 285 00:17:23,780 --> 00:17:27,260 S1: I can envision him as a young child easier than 286 00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:30,260 S1: I can as a man, maybe because of how he 287 00:17:30,260 --> 00:17:34,100 S1: has been portrayed in films through the years. Max von Seidel, 288 00:17:34,140 --> 00:17:35,899 S1: you know, and others. 289 00:17:35,940 --> 00:17:39,609 S2: Good. Wavy brown hair towel over the arm. Stalking around. 290 00:17:39,650 --> 00:17:43,050 S1: Placidly. You know, an ascetic. You know, just kind of 291 00:17:43,050 --> 00:17:46,490 S1: walking through without feeling anything, right? And it's like, no, 292 00:17:46,490 --> 00:17:50,850 S1: that's not who he was. He did feel, you know, 293 00:17:50,890 --> 00:17:54,129 S1: he got tired. He's sitting by the well and he's thirsty. 294 00:17:54,530 --> 00:17:58,170 S1: And the woman comes and he asks her for a drink. 295 00:17:58,210 --> 00:18:02,050 S1: And then you say, you know, he he he moves 296 00:18:02,050 --> 00:18:05,890 S1: into other people's lives. He moves into the disciples, lives 297 00:18:06,090 --> 00:18:08,210 S1: uncomfortably so, at times. 298 00:18:08,369 --> 00:18:10,770 S2: Asking good questions and knowing them. And one of the 299 00:18:10,770 --> 00:18:13,050 S2: things I really would urge I teach, I'm teaching it 300 00:18:13,050 --> 00:18:15,169 S2: right now, images of Christ in the novel. And the 301 00:18:15,170 --> 00:18:17,770 S2: whole thing is to get people to distance themselves from 302 00:18:17,770 --> 00:18:22,250 S2: these predictable, Munich inspired stained glass window looks at Christ, 303 00:18:22,250 --> 00:18:26,250 S2: where he's so benign, and to see, look at great art, 304 00:18:26,250 --> 00:18:28,330 S2: look at what the Africans have done with them. Look 305 00:18:28,330 --> 00:18:30,970 S2: at what the Europeans have done. Go through the ages. 306 00:18:30,970 --> 00:18:33,609 S2: There are there are pictures of him that are absolutely. 307 00:18:33,609 --> 00:18:36,879 S2: Some of them are bizarre, but some of them are 308 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,520 S2: absolutely stunning, and you almost don't know what to do 309 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,480 S2: with yourself because it will shake your predictable vision. And 310 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:46,240 S2: one of the films I have them watch is Pasolini's, 311 00:18:46,240 --> 00:18:49,080 S2: who was not a Christian. Uh, you know, the gospel 312 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:51,520 S2: according to Matthew and my students. I'm not sure they 313 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:53,920 S2: like it, but it is. So he just used common 314 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,040 S2: people in Italy to film it. It's a very unusual portrait, 315 00:18:57,040 --> 00:18:59,000 S2: but the thing it does is that it shakes you 316 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:03,560 S2: up and it takes you from the over attractive visions 317 00:19:03,560 --> 00:19:07,159 S2: of Christ. The guy, a guy who looks like someone 318 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:09,840 S2: who would never date me, said one of my students. 319 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:12,199 S1: I like it because. 320 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,879 S2: Of the good hair and the smouldering eyes. 321 00:19:15,240 --> 00:19:18,879 S1: Yeah. You know, there was a film a few years 322 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,239 S1: ago and I got a pitch. You know, I get 323 00:19:21,240 --> 00:19:23,880 S1: all these emails. Hey, would you feature this film? We 324 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,240 S1: give you the director or somebody who was involved with this? 325 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,120 S1: The producer. ET cetera, et cetera. And I watched the film, 326 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:33,709 S1: and it was I think there was part of it 327 00:19:33,710 --> 00:19:36,389 S1: that was based on an apocryphal thing. You know, the 328 00:19:36,430 --> 00:19:40,710 S1: Jesus making birds out of clay and then having them fly, 329 00:19:40,750 --> 00:19:43,189 S1: you know, that kind of thing, that kind of thing. No, no, no, no, 330 00:19:43,190 --> 00:19:45,830 S1: I'm not gonna do that. But I watched it anyway. 331 00:19:45,830 --> 00:19:49,430 S1: And you're right. You're exactly right. There was a place 332 00:19:49,670 --> 00:19:53,310 S1: in that film where I had to stop it and weep, 333 00:19:53,750 --> 00:19:58,510 S1: because it was right at the end when Jesus, who is, 334 00:19:59,230 --> 00:20:02,670 S1: you know, it was a child in Egypt, and he 335 00:20:02,670 --> 00:20:08,030 S1: runs up to a cliff overlooking where the caravan is 336 00:20:08,030 --> 00:20:12,869 S1: going as they go back toward Nazareth. And he looks 337 00:20:12,869 --> 00:20:14,909 S1: there and you see his face and kind of the 338 00:20:14,910 --> 00:20:19,230 S1: credits roll. And then he runs back down and Joseph 339 00:20:19,670 --> 00:20:21,229 S1: picks him up and he puts. 340 00:20:21,230 --> 00:20:23,830 S3: Him on his shoulders. Oh my goodness. And I thought, 341 00:20:23,830 --> 00:20:26,790 S3: I've never I've never seen that. I've thought about. 342 00:20:26,790 --> 00:20:26,950 S2: It. 343 00:20:26,950 --> 00:20:30,109 S3: Before. I've never thought of Jesus on his dad's shoulders. 344 00:20:30,150 --> 00:20:33,020 S3: That that that's real. It's so. 345 00:20:33,020 --> 00:20:36,300 S2: Real. It's so real and so moving. Yes. I completely 346 00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:37,660 S2: agree with you. Yeah. 347 00:20:38,500 --> 00:20:42,859 S1: Uh, and then. And then it's like Mary and Joseph 348 00:20:43,340 --> 00:20:47,620 S1: or Mary on the donkey riding down, and most so easy. 349 00:20:47,619 --> 00:20:49,460 S1: Look at the way and the and the. 350 00:20:49,500 --> 00:20:51,620 S2: You've never ridden a donkey if you say that. 351 00:20:52,060 --> 00:20:53,619 S1: Over that terrain. 352 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:54,140 S2: Yeah. 353 00:20:54,260 --> 00:20:57,540 S1: Uh, there was, we had, uh, Doctor Kessler, you mentioned 354 00:20:57,820 --> 00:21:00,619 S1: in his, uh, in his Christmas book, there was a 355 00:21:00,900 --> 00:21:03,859 S1: poem that you have excerpted for us today. 356 00:21:04,140 --> 00:21:07,540 S2: Yes. And I love Doctor Kessler's book has got filled 357 00:21:07,540 --> 00:21:12,900 S2: with beautiful art, very unusual essays and some terrific poems. 358 00:21:12,900 --> 00:21:15,660 S2: I never knew he wrote poetry. And this one's beautiful. 359 00:21:15,700 --> 00:21:19,620 S2: Mary went down to Bethlehem. Mary went down to Bethlehem. 360 00:21:19,619 --> 00:21:25,020 S2: Bone weary and riding on a donkey. Great with child. 361 00:21:25,380 --> 00:21:28,220 S2: She did not feel much like the queen of anything, 362 00:21:28,740 --> 00:21:32,290 S2: and all the little stars in heaven in their wheeling courses, 363 00:21:32,330 --> 00:21:37,050 S2: weaving and bobbing like drunken sailors shown a little above her. 364 00:21:37,570 --> 00:21:42,410 S2: Like her, we too are all of us. Shuffling a 365 00:21:42,410 --> 00:21:47,410 S2: long road and longing to hear the morning stars shout 366 00:21:47,410 --> 00:21:49,650 S2: their joy. Wow. 367 00:21:51,090 --> 00:21:53,570 S3: They got to you too. It makes me cry. 368 00:21:53,609 --> 00:21:54,770 S2: Every time I read that. 369 00:21:55,010 --> 00:21:55,570 S3: Yes. 370 00:21:55,609 --> 00:22:01,850 S1: Shuffling along road. There's somebody who's listening today. Who's shuffling 371 00:22:01,850 --> 00:22:05,730 S1: along road. And they needed to hear that. Yeah. And 372 00:22:05,730 --> 00:22:09,010 S1: it's okay to shuffle a long road because it's the 373 00:22:09,010 --> 00:22:10,290 S1: road that you're given. 374 00:22:10,330 --> 00:22:10,730 S3: To. 375 00:22:10,770 --> 00:22:11,649 S1: Travel. Right. 376 00:22:11,690 --> 00:22:13,610 S2: I feel like I'm on that one right now. So 377 00:22:13,609 --> 00:22:16,210 S2: I really resonate with this. And you want to see 378 00:22:16,210 --> 00:22:18,770 S2: the morning stars shout their joy. You want to have 379 00:22:18,770 --> 00:22:22,410 S2: that touch of the unexpected in this season of this 380 00:22:22,410 --> 00:22:23,290 S2: great birth. 381 00:22:23,930 --> 00:22:27,610 S1: You want to have healing. You want to have perfection. 382 00:22:27,609 --> 00:22:30,240 S1: You want to have no death, no dying no more, 383 00:22:30,640 --> 00:22:32,920 S1: you know, mourning, um. 384 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:35,320 S2: Things that come with aging, you know. 385 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:36,000 S3: Right. 386 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,040 S2: The world disintegrating around you. Yeah. 387 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:40,640 S1: The rancor. You know. 388 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:41,280 S3: The people. 389 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:43,439 S1: Who are listening right now who are going to be 390 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:46,240 S1: shuffling down the road, going back and meeting with family 391 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,720 S1: and friends. And there's going to be conflict, and there's 392 00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:51,439 S1: going to be tension and there's going to. And you 393 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,919 S1: don't want that. No. And you can you can protect 394 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:56,280 S1: yourself from it. You can keep a distance from it, 395 00:22:56,280 --> 00:22:59,399 S1: or you can get on the donkey and go and 396 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,800 S1: shuffle as well as you as well as you possibly can, 397 00:23:03,040 --> 00:23:07,240 S1: and allow that tension to do something. See, I think 398 00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:09,640 S1: that's what we think the Christian life is all about 399 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,840 S1: is not having any tension, not having any rancor, not 400 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,520 S1: having anything. It's like, no, that's exactly what Jesus was 401 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:19,000 S1: born into, wasn't it? 402 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:22,200 S2: The only thing that leaves you without any emotional plane is, 403 00:23:22,240 --> 00:23:25,520 S2: you know, if you're addicted to something. We, my students 404 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:27,520 S2: just asked me this. Do we ever get to a 405 00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:29,550 S2: point where we just feel a quiet in the face 406 00:23:29,550 --> 00:23:32,750 S2: of needing to forgive. I said, well, there are moments 407 00:23:32,750 --> 00:23:35,110 S2: and then you fight it through again and you go. 408 00:23:35,150 --> 00:23:37,710 S2: I said, where did we come to expect that? Our 409 00:23:37,710 --> 00:23:40,310 S2: lives were like a hunk of tofu, you know, just 410 00:23:40,310 --> 00:23:44,590 S2: completely flavorless. We are hit with things constantly, and that's 411 00:23:44,590 --> 00:23:48,150 S2: what Jesus in us does. He keeps addressing that. 412 00:23:49,150 --> 00:23:49,830 S3: And it's what. 413 00:23:49,830 --> 00:23:50,910 S1: The abundant life is. 414 00:23:50,950 --> 00:23:52,189 S3: Rosie, that's exactly right. 415 00:23:52,230 --> 00:23:55,110 S1: Because I think a lot of people will, uh, Jesus 416 00:23:55,109 --> 00:23:57,470 S1: came to give the abundant life and they think, well, 417 00:23:57,470 --> 00:24:00,510 S1: that's going to be, you know, a full bank account 418 00:24:00,510 --> 00:24:02,990 S1: and a big house and everything. You know, all that 419 00:24:02,990 --> 00:24:05,390 S1: we need, we all that we think we need. Yeah. 420 00:24:05,430 --> 00:24:11,350 S1: And abundant life is what we what God knows we 421 00:24:11,350 --> 00:24:13,470 S1: need in the middle of the struggle. 422 00:24:13,510 --> 00:24:19,510 S2: That's exactly right. And you think of Mary answering the unimaginable, 423 00:24:19,510 --> 00:24:21,830 S2: the call of God on her life. She didn't cover 424 00:24:21,830 --> 00:24:24,470 S2: herself with cliches. She was silent for a moment, asked 425 00:24:24,470 --> 00:24:28,740 S2: a very good question in wonderment, and then went into 426 00:24:28,740 --> 00:24:32,700 S2: it and did the Magnificat and went to her. To Elizabeth. 427 00:24:33,180 --> 00:24:35,659 S2: And what do we do? We have to grow into 428 00:24:35,660 --> 00:24:39,419 S2: the unknown with trust. And a 15th century unknown poem. 429 00:24:39,420 --> 00:24:41,500 S2: I have no idea who wrote it says low in 430 00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:45,740 S2: the silent night a child to God is born. In 431 00:24:45,740 --> 00:24:50,180 S2: all is brought again. The air before was lost. Or 432 00:24:50,220 --> 00:24:55,379 S2: lawn could. But thy soul, O man, become a silent night. 433 00:24:55,380 --> 00:24:58,980 S2: Instead of raging worry. God would be born in thee. 434 00:24:59,540 --> 00:25:03,740 S2: And set all things aright. And by setting all things aright, 435 00:25:03,740 --> 00:25:07,780 S2: it just means coming out of that dizzy phase and 436 00:25:07,780 --> 00:25:11,140 S2: into a sense of steadiness. 437 00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:11,860 S3: Yeah. 438 00:25:12,460 --> 00:25:15,420 S1: Will I make room in him for my heart? It 439 00:25:15,420 --> 00:25:19,220 S1: comes to mind, you know, born in the air and 440 00:25:19,220 --> 00:25:22,460 S1: allow God access there. Doctor Rosalie de rosé is with 441 00:25:22,460 --> 00:25:25,340 S1: us today. She's got more poems, if you want to 442 00:25:25,450 --> 00:25:28,650 S1: add to that, maybe there's a Christmas hymn, a Christmas 443 00:25:28,650 --> 00:25:31,450 S1: carol that you love at this time of the year. 444 00:25:31,490 --> 00:25:38,530 S1: Of year that has that poetry to it. (877) 548-3675. Or 445 00:25:38,530 --> 00:25:46,370 S1: you have an observation of something that she's already read. (877) 548-3675. 446 00:25:46,530 --> 00:25:51,330 S1: Go over to the website, Chris. There's more straight ahead. 447 00:26:04,170 --> 00:26:07,250 S1: I was just thinking of a mutual friend of Doctor 448 00:26:07,250 --> 00:26:10,649 S1: Rosalie de rosette and yours truly. And that is Don Cole. 449 00:26:10,650 --> 00:26:14,090 S1: I think of Don and Naomi Cole a lot after 450 00:26:14,090 --> 00:26:16,169 S1: their passing a few years ago. But one of the 451 00:26:16,170 --> 00:26:19,570 S1: things that he said that reminds me of the shuffling 452 00:26:19,609 --> 00:26:22,770 S1: along road. Don used to say that struggle is not 453 00:26:22,770 --> 00:26:26,520 S1: a sign of failure. Struggle is a sign of life. 454 00:26:27,119 --> 00:26:30,400 S1: And if that is you today, if you know. Why 455 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:32,760 S1: do I have this struggle in my in my life? Well, 456 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,800 S1: it's because you have life. Because God is doing something. 457 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:38,479 S1: I think in Philippians, you know, uh, he who began 458 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:41,120 S1: a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. 459 00:26:41,160 --> 00:26:44,040 S1: He didn't promise it could be easy, you know, and 460 00:26:44,560 --> 00:26:48,160 S1: and it's the struggle. It's the times of struggle in 461 00:26:48,160 --> 00:26:51,920 S1: my life that I feel like I've grown the most. 462 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:56,520 S1: And maybe if this season, you know, here on December 9th, 463 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:02,639 S1: if this time of year accentuates that struggle, keep, keep 464 00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,920 S1: shuffling that long road that you're on, friend. The other 465 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:08,400 S1: thing Rosie said to me in the break was pay 466 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:12,360 S1: attention to unbidden tears. And we both had those in 467 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,360 S1: that last segment. What? What do you mean by that 468 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:16,000 S1: and why? 469 00:27:17,080 --> 00:27:20,720 S2: You know, I'm when I matured in my 30s, I 470 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,990 S2: cried much more than I had before that, and so 471 00:27:23,990 --> 00:27:27,230 S2: many times I would just have this choking in and 472 00:27:27,230 --> 00:27:29,870 S2: in tears in my eyes over a line of poetry 473 00:27:29,869 --> 00:27:33,790 S2: or a beautiful paragraph in a, in a in a novel. 474 00:27:34,070 --> 00:27:38,910 S2: I always read the, the, um, Demon Possession, Letting Go 475 00:27:38,910 --> 00:27:41,270 S2: and Mad Men by Tracy Grote and can hardly get 476 00:27:41,270 --> 00:27:44,830 S2: through it. And you need to pay attention because it 477 00:27:44,830 --> 00:27:47,750 S2: usually has touched one a holy place in you. 478 00:27:49,190 --> 00:27:51,550 S1: Meaning a vulnerable. 479 00:27:51,590 --> 00:27:51,909 S3: Place. 480 00:27:51,910 --> 00:27:54,510 S2: A vulnerable place that is about your spirit. 481 00:27:55,790 --> 00:27:59,150 S1: Which if you pay attention to it and that's that's 482 00:27:59,150 --> 00:28:01,109 S1: part of what we're you know, you got to have 483 00:28:02,109 --> 00:28:05,510 S1: courage in order to pay attention. And I wrote you 484 00:28:05,510 --> 00:28:08,270 S1: when you said that, that I was our family was 485 00:28:08,430 --> 00:28:10,470 S1: so poor we couldn't afford to pay attention. 486 00:28:10,590 --> 00:28:11,070 S3: Yeah. 487 00:28:11,910 --> 00:28:13,670 S1: So I had to get that in there because I 488 00:28:13,670 --> 00:28:17,110 S1: always have to do it. But if you pay attention 489 00:28:17,109 --> 00:28:22,460 S1: to what makes your eyes water, There is something that 490 00:28:22,460 --> 00:28:27,580 S1: God has done or is doing, and maybe both to 491 00:28:27,820 --> 00:28:30,459 S1: to make you who he wants you to be rather 492 00:28:30,460 --> 00:28:33,900 S1: than who you're. You will wind up to be without him. Right? 493 00:28:33,900 --> 00:28:34,820 S2: That's exactly right. 494 00:28:34,859 --> 00:28:35,659 S3: That's exactly. 495 00:28:35,859 --> 00:28:38,660 S2: And it and it it it makes you more open 496 00:28:38,700 --> 00:28:40,420 S2: honestly to his voice. 497 00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:44,020 S1: More open to his voice. Which is what Wendy said. 498 00:28:44,020 --> 00:28:45,900 S1: I want to hear. I don't want to just read 499 00:28:45,900 --> 00:28:47,780 S1: the Bible. I want to hear what God is saying 500 00:28:47,860 --> 00:28:50,220 S1: to me. And of course, we you can go too 501 00:28:50,220 --> 00:28:52,260 S1: far with that. It's like, you know, he said this 502 00:28:52,300 --> 00:28:56,500 S1: and no, but is being open to God communicating how. 503 00:28:56,540 --> 00:28:56,900 S3: His. 504 00:28:56,900 --> 00:29:01,740 S2: Word or through somebody beautiful representation of of who he is. 505 00:29:01,780 --> 00:29:05,060 S1: Yeah. Or the what I read about Silent Night and 506 00:29:05,060 --> 00:29:07,660 S1: sitting on the stump looking at the deer and spending 507 00:29:07,700 --> 00:29:12,260 S1: time away from the noise, away from the, you know, 508 00:29:12,300 --> 00:29:15,700 S1: the the objects that the screens that we have. And 509 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:18,380 S1: I know that's part of what what you talk about. 510 00:29:18,540 --> 00:29:21,370 S1: Let me go to Tracy in Ohio. Tracy. Why did 511 00:29:21,370 --> 00:29:22,610 S1: you call Rosie today? 512 00:29:24,810 --> 00:29:29,690 S4: Well, I just, uh. What brings my heart joy during 513 00:29:30,210 --> 00:29:34,330 S4: this time of year is listening to the song The 514 00:29:34,330 --> 00:29:38,810 S4: Little Drummer Boy. And also watching the little claymation deal. 515 00:29:38,810 --> 00:29:42,810 S4: I watch it every year. Um, it just reminds me 516 00:29:42,850 --> 00:29:48,610 S4: that even if everybody else thinks our gift is tiny 517 00:29:49,410 --> 00:29:54,410 S4: to Christ, it's large, and also that he doesn't care 518 00:29:54,770 --> 00:29:56,770 S4: whether we give him something or not. He's going to 519 00:29:56,770 --> 00:29:59,850 S4: give us his gift of salvation regardless. 520 00:30:00,650 --> 00:30:01,490 S2: That's lovely. 521 00:30:01,490 --> 00:30:02,170 S3: That's lovely. 522 00:30:02,370 --> 00:30:04,890 S1: Strings. I always get caught with a rum pa pum 523 00:30:04,890 --> 00:30:07,410 S1: pum pa rum pum pum pum, you know? 524 00:30:07,570 --> 00:30:08,850 S4: But you and me both. 525 00:30:08,930 --> 00:30:11,570 S1: What is, what is it about that? And I watched 526 00:30:11,570 --> 00:30:14,450 S1: the claymation thing, too, because that was formative in my 527 00:30:14,810 --> 00:30:18,330 S1: in my childhood. But what is it about that song, though, 528 00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,680 S1: that Tracy. That that hits the nerve for you. 529 00:30:23,480 --> 00:30:29,160 S4: It's just, uh. Just the adage of the little boy 530 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,280 S4: giving what he had. 531 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,280 S3: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 532 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:39,000 S2: You can see it so visually. And it's very poignant. 533 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,560 S1: I have no gifts to bring. That's fit to give 534 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,120 S1: a king. Because you think of the others. The gold 535 00:30:45,120 --> 00:30:47,560 S1: and frankincense of the mers. I don't have anything. But 536 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,960 S1: you know what? What can I do? Shall I play 537 00:30:50,960 --> 00:30:54,720 S1: for you on my drum? Um. The ox and lamb. 538 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,880 S1: Keep time. I don't think that happened, but it's. It's 539 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,480 S1: nice to be able to to think of that. And 540 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:04,920 S1: then it says. Then he smiled at me. Me and 541 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:08,160 S1: my drum. Uh, I'm glad you called today. Tracy, thanks 542 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:09,200 S1: for calling in here. 543 00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:11,680 S4: Thank you for taking my call. 544 00:31:12,600 --> 00:31:17,830 S1: Uh, there's another hymn that has some of that same feeling. Rosie, 545 00:31:17,830 --> 00:31:21,550 S1: listen to this. Uh, this is written by. It was 546 00:31:21,550 --> 00:31:27,350 S1: a Polish carol. Infant, lowly, infant lowly for his bed, 547 00:31:27,390 --> 00:31:33,230 S1: a cattle stall, oxen lowing little knowing. Christ the babe 548 00:31:33,270 --> 00:31:39,630 S1: is Lord of all swift are winging angels singing. Noels 549 00:31:39,630 --> 00:31:45,230 S1: ringing tidings. Bringing Christ the babe is Lord of all. 550 00:31:45,270 --> 00:31:45,710 S2: Wow. 551 00:31:45,950 --> 00:31:48,630 S1: Christ the babe is Lord of all. Let me do 552 00:31:48,630 --> 00:31:52,750 S1: the second verse. Flocks were sleeping shepherds keeping vigil till 553 00:31:52,750 --> 00:31:57,350 S1: the morning. Knew. Saw the glory, heard the story. Tidings 554 00:31:57,350 --> 00:32:03,630 S1: of a gospel true. Thus rejoicing free from sorrows. Praises voicing. 555 00:32:03,630 --> 00:32:08,790 S1: Greet the morrow. Christ the babe was born for you. 556 00:32:09,190 --> 00:32:09,590 S3: Wow. 557 00:32:09,630 --> 00:32:10,470 S1: Christ the babe. 558 00:32:10,470 --> 00:32:11,470 S3: Was born for you. 559 00:32:11,510 --> 00:32:11,990 S1: Isn't that. 560 00:32:11,990 --> 00:32:12,310 S3: Great? 561 00:32:12,350 --> 00:32:13,230 S2: That's beautiful. 562 00:32:14,550 --> 00:32:19,260 S1: I love that, and. again, this is the time not 563 00:32:19,260 --> 00:32:23,100 S1: just to think about those things, but then to receive 564 00:32:23,140 --> 00:32:25,980 S1: them to to to live them out. Because there's a 565 00:32:25,980 --> 00:32:30,020 S1: lot of people who don't know that truth, that Christ 566 00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:32,100 S1: the Babe is Lord of all. Right. 567 00:32:32,540 --> 00:32:35,540 S2: No. Or else it's it's an esoteric thought they haven't 568 00:32:35,580 --> 00:32:37,260 S2: really thought about. 569 00:32:39,260 --> 00:32:40,020 S3: Exactly. 570 00:32:40,340 --> 00:32:43,180 S1: All right. Give me. Now, you did the 15th century 571 00:32:43,180 --> 00:32:46,620 S1: poem you haven't told me about Kathleen Norris, what she 572 00:32:46,620 --> 00:32:47,300 S1: wrote in the ad. 573 00:32:47,500 --> 00:32:50,780 S2: You actually addressed it, and she was talking about the 574 00:32:50,820 --> 00:32:55,140 S2: difference between Zechariah's response and Mary and Mary contents herself 575 00:32:55,140 --> 00:32:59,100 S2: with wisdom. How can this be simpler and more profound? 576 00:32:59,100 --> 00:33:03,340 S2: She doesn't write. Norris lose her voice as he does. Literally, 577 00:33:03,340 --> 00:33:07,820 S2: she finds it. She asserts that here I am, not arrogantly, 578 00:33:07,820 --> 00:33:09,580 S2: but with holy fear and wonder. 579 00:33:10,140 --> 00:33:14,380 S1: Doesn't that echo Isaiah? Here I am. Send me. 580 00:33:14,490 --> 00:33:15,290 S2: Yes, it does. 581 00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:15,690 S3: Doesn't. 582 00:33:15,690 --> 00:33:16,530 S2: It? Yes. 583 00:33:16,730 --> 00:33:17,210 S3: Yeah. 584 00:33:17,410 --> 00:33:22,490 S1: And that and that whole idea. Um, but I have, 585 00:33:22,530 --> 00:33:25,770 S1: you know, with Mary. I have to get past how 586 00:33:25,770 --> 00:33:28,530 S1: we get Mary wrong either one way or the other. 587 00:33:28,570 --> 00:33:32,730 S1: You know, she's Co-redemptrix Redemptoris for some. I don't agree 588 00:33:32,730 --> 00:33:36,050 S1: with that, but she's just. She's just, you know, this peasant, 589 00:33:36,050 --> 00:33:41,650 S1: poor peasant girl that God favored. Uh, she was highly 590 00:33:41,690 --> 00:33:48,330 S1: favored of the God. God did something in her through 591 00:33:48,370 --> 00:33:51,610 S1: her that he didn't do for anybody else on the planet. 592 00:33:51,610 --> 00:33:52,490 S1: And that's special. 593 00:33:52,810 --> 00:33:55,970 S2: And she shows that she had to have been incredibly 594 00:33:55,970 --> 00:33:59,250 S2: attentive to the readings of scriptures in the temple, because 595 00:33:59,250 --> 00:34:04,450 S2: when she does the Magnificat, it is this elegant, articulate 596 00:34:04,450 --> 00:34:06,090 S2: statement of theology. 597 00:34:06,330 --> 00:34:06,730 S3: Mhm. 598 00:34:07,010 --> 00:34:08,969 S2: So she was chosen for a reason. 599 00:34:10,130 --> 00:34:14,560 S1: So, so in this segment we've talked about the, unbidden tears. 600 00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:18,239 S1: So it takes courage to listen to that. To to 601 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:22,040 S1: feel takes courage, especially for men. If you have unbidden tears, 602 00:34:22,320 --> 00:34:26,360 S1: it takes courage to move into that. And have you 603 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,239 S1: done Joseph yet? I don't think. 604 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:28,799 S3: We know, and. 605 00:34:28,800 --> 00:34:32,960 S2: I, I love this poem by Peter Cooley expressing as 606 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,480 S2: a father, and I think you ought to read it 607 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:40,799 S2: because you're a father, his respect for Joseph. And go 608 00:34:40,800 --> 00:34:41,600 S2: ahead and read that. 609 00:34:41,640 --> 00:34:46,120 S1: Okay. All right. Joseph, it is you I turn to 610 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:51,840 S1: my 23 years of father. You who have husbanded firmaments 611 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:57,040 S1: yet come away convinced. What trembling brought you to your 612 00:34:57,040 --> 00:35:03,080 S1: knees to take some other father's son unto yourself, suspending 613 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:08,200 S1: everything at the edge of this page. I bless your piety. 614 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:12,940 S1: Suffer the myth to continue you After I and my 615 00:35:12,940 --> 00:35:14,460 S1: kind are gone. 616 00:35:15,620 --> 00:35:18,140 S2: And. And it just puts you. Joseph, who never spoke 617 00:35:18,140 --> 00:35:20,299 S2: a word in Scripture. He and Lazarus, neither one of 618 00:35:20,300 --> 00:35:22,540 S2: them ever spoke a word in Scripture. And yet what 619 00:35:22,580 --> 00:35:26,020 S2: a brave man it was. He was in Rilke. The 620 00:35:26,020 --> 00:35:30,500 S2: famous Rainer Maria Rilke writes in Joseph's Suspicion. This makes 621 00:35:30,500 --> 00:35:33,580 S2: him very human. What is it that has wrought this 622 00:35:33,580 --> 00:35:37,260 S2: change in her? She he asks the angel. Then cried 623 00:35:37,260 --> 00:35:40,660 S2: the angel to him. Carpenter, can't you see that God 624 00:35:40,660 --> 00:35:45,820 S2: is acting here because you plain the planks of your pride? 625 00:35:45,820 --> 00:35:50,100 S2: Could you really make the Lord God answerable? Who unpretentiously 626 00:35:50,100 --> 00:35:52,899 S2: from the same wood makes the leaves burst forth, the 627 00:35:52,900 --> 00:35:57,500 S2: young buds swell. He understood that. And then, as he 628 00:35:57,500 --> 00:36:00,500 S2: raised his frightened glance toward the angel who had gone 629 00:36:00,500 --> 00:36:05,620 S2: away slowly the man drew off his heavy cap. Then 630 00:36:05,660 --> 00:36:07,580 S2: in song he praised. 631 00:36:07,739 --> 00:36:08,180 S3: Wow. 632 00:36:09,780 --> 00:36:13,169 S2: Just puts him on the map. And it was if 633 00:36:13,210 --> 00:36:15,169 S2: you if you see that you ever see the movie 634 00:36:15,170 --> 00:36:19,049 S2: The Nativity, which I love. Um, it it's it's a 635 00:36:19,050 --> 00:36:22,690 S2: wonderful picture of Joseph really did think about putting her away. 636 00:36:22,890 --> 00:36:23,330 S3: Yes. 637 00:36:23,370 --> 00:36:26,649 S2: And how he came to submit and he gets not 638 00:36:26,650 --> 00:36:30,570 S2: a lot of credit, but he faithfully was with Mary, 639 00:36:30,570 --> 00:36:34,050 S2: raising all those children and raising Christ throughout those years 640 00:36:34,050 --> 00:36:36,650 S2: and carrying him on his shoulders, as you noted. 641 00:36:36,690 --> 00:36:37,130 S3: Yeah. 642 00:36:37,290 --> 00:36:39,850 S1: The Nativity, uh, that film has just been in the 643 00:36:39,850 --> 00:36:41,170 S1: last few years. Right? 644 00:36:41,250 --> 00:36:43,170 S2: It came out in about 2004. 645 00:36:44,330 --> 00:36:46,290 S3: Really? Yeah. It's a beautiful long. It's a. 646 00:36:46,290 --> 00:36:47,290 S2: Beautiful film. 647 00:36:47,330 --> 00:36:50,810 S1: Where have I been all these years? See the acceleration 648 00:36:50,810 --> 00:36:51,770 S1: of time, Rosie? 649 00:36:51,810 --> 00:36:52,170 S3: Yes. 650 00:36:52,210 --> 00:36:55,450 S1: It's getting to us both. And, uh. But but we 651 00:36:55,450 --> 00:36:57,010 S1: can be moved by these. 652 00:36:57,050 --> 00:36:57,810 S3: Things, right? 653 00:36:58,170 --> 00:37:00,890 S1: And if you go to Chris Fabbri Live.com, click through 654 00:37:00,890 --> 00:37:05,130 S1: today's information. You'll see doctor Rosalie De Rosa is our 655 00:37:05,130 --> 00:37:08,129 S1: featured resource on Seduced and Unshaken. If you haven't read that, 656 00:37:08,130 --> 00:37:11,760 S1: you have to have other resources there for you. Chris Fabry. 657 00:37:24,640 --> 00:37:27,080 S1: Thanks for joining us for Chris Fabry live doctor Rosalee 658 00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,080 S1: De Rosa has brought a bunch of poems, a bunch 659 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,080 S1: of words. And do you know who I think about 660 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:36,719 S1: during this time? Rosie is, uh. Well, you're single, and 661 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:38,920 S1: you have been for a long time. But those who 662 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:43,280 S1: are single and and lonely at Christmas, the longing for. 663 00:37:43,320 --> 00:37:44,759 S1: You know, I wish I had a family wish I 664 00:37:44,760 --> 00:37:48,319 S1: was married. Or those who had recent divorces, or those 665 00:37:48,320 --> 00:37:51,640 S1: who've had a spouse that they've loved, a number of 666 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:55,440 S1: friends who have lost someone they've been walking the trail 667 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:59,200 S1: with for 40, 50, 60 years, you know, and this 668 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,160 S1: is going to be a different kind of Christmas. And 669 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:05,799 S1: so I always, I always think of those people who 670 00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:11,310 S1: are Shuffling down that long road. And who are listening 671 00:38:11,350 --> 00:38:16,430 S1: to you read these poems and and then having God, 672 00:38:16,469 --> 00:38:19,790 S1: you know, it doesn't assuage the longing that you have 673 00:38:19,790 --> 00:38:23,069 S1: and the loss that you have, um, shows that there 674 00:38:23,070 --> 00:38:25,469 S1: was something good there. So it's like, I want to 675 00:38:25,510 --> 00:38:29,030 S1: embrace that and lament that, but at the same time 676 00:38:29,030 --> 00:38:31,470 S1: really feel what I feel, right? 677 00:38:31,790 --> 00:38:34,590 S2: Oh, all of it together. Because God is with us. 678 00:38:35,270 --> 00:38:38,150 S2: He he he he isn't just at the at the 679 00:38:38,150 --> 00:38:41,150 S2: wonderful Christmas tree with the family gathered in red pajamas. 680 00:38:41,190 --> 00:38:45,070 S2: You know, he's with those who are alone, aging, having 681 00:38:45,070 --> 00:38:49,670 S2: lost people, feeling the bite, the bite of the season, 682 00:38:50,270 --> 00:38:54,469 S2: but knowing that it doesn't change a thing about the 683 00:38:54,469 --> 00:38:56,710 S2: stars being alive for us. 684 00:38:56,750 --> 00:38:57,270 S3: Yes. 685 00:38:57,710 --> 00:39:02,510 S1: And and the ability that we have to numb ourselves 686 00:39:02,790 --> 00:39:05,069 S1: to the pain and the struggle, you know, and the 687 00:39:05,110 --> 00:39:07,460 S1: and the shuffling, you know, that we that we are 688 00:39:07,460 --> 00:39:09,859 S1: called to do. I mean, you could do that and 689 00:39:09,860 --> 00:39:12,219 S1: I and I, you know, I'll turn a game on 690 00:39:12,219 --> 00:39:15,020 S1: and I'm there. You know, I can get into a 691 00:39:15,020 --> 00:39:17,300 S1: game and it's like, you know, the drama and everything. 692 00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:19,060 S1: I get wrapped up in it and I forget my 693 00:39:19,060 --> 00:39:22,460 S1: own shuffling. You know, if you get my own first 694 00:39:22,460 --> 00:39:25,580 S1: down that I'm trying to get in my own life. Uh, so. 695 00:39:25,620 --> 00:39:28,140 S1: And there's nothing wrong with a little break, but. No, 696 00:39:28,180 --> 00:39:30,859 S1: but it takes courage to walk into that. And that 697 00:39:30,860 --> 00:39:33,020 S1: takes us to the shepherds. Tell me about the shepherds. 698 00:39:33,020 --> 00:39:37,580 S2: Oh, I love this poem about the shepherds by Richard Bochum. Bochum. Sorry. 699 00:39:37,980 --> 00:39:41,419 S2: We were familiar with the night. We knew its favorite colors. 700 00:39:41,420 --> 00:39:44,740 S2: This is the shepherd speaking, its sullen silence in its small, 701 00:39:44,739 --> 00:39:50,460 S2: disturbing sounds, its unprovoked rages, its savage dreams. We slept 702 00:39:50,460 --> 00:39:54,420 S2: by turns. Attentive to the flock. We said little night 703 00:39:54,420 --> 00:39:57,580 S2: after night. There was little to say. But sometimes one 704 00:39:57,580 --> 00:40:00,620 S2: of us skilled in that way would pipe a tune 705 00:40:00,660 --> 00:40:04,260 S2: of how things were for us. They say that once, 706 00:40:04,260 --> 00:40:08,489 S2: almost before time, the stars with shining voices serenaded the 707 00:40:08,489 --> 00:40:12,770 S2: newborn world. The night could not contain their boundless praise. 708 00:40:12,770 --> 00:40:15,850 S2: We thought that was just a poem. Until the night 709 00:40:16,210 --> 00:40:21,609 S2: a song of solar glory. Unutterable, unearthly. Eclipsed the luminaries 710 00:40:21,610 --> 00:40:25,370 S2: of the night. As though the world were exorcised of dark. 711 00:40:25,370 --> 00:40:29,930 S2: And coming to itself began again. Later we returned to 712 00:40:29,930 --> 00:40:33,969 S2: the flock. The night was ominously black. The stars were 713 00:40:33,969 --> 00:40:38,049 S2: silent as the sheep night's pass. Year on year, we 714 00:40:38,090 --> 00:40:42,170 S2: clutch our meager cloaks against the cold. Our aging pipers 715 00:40:42,170 --> 00:40:46,890 S2: fumbling fingers play night after night. An earthly echo of 716 00:40:46,890 --> 00:40:53,250 S2: the sun that banished dark. It has stayed with us. Wow. 717 00:40:54,690 --> 00:40:55,490 S3: Behold, the. 718 00:40:55,489 --> 00:40:59,850 S1: Light has come. I love that word exorcise. Because it's 719 00:40:59,850 --> 00:41:02,930 S1: not exercise, you know, like do your calisthenics. 720 00:41:02,969 --> 00:41:05,080 S3: It's exorcise. 721 00:41:05,080 --> 00:41:06,719 S1: To to cast out. 722 00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:07,920 S3: The dark. Right. 723 00:41:07,960 --> 00:41:10,839 S2: And that wonderful last line. You know, the shepherds have 724 00:41:10,840 --> 00:41:15,520 S2: boring jobs. I remember standing looking over the field before Bethlehem. 725 00:41:15,520 --> 00:41:18,919 S2: We didn't go into Bethlehem in kind of that scenario. 726 00:41:19,200 --> 00:41:22,439 S2: And this is this is a tedious work. And there 727 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,480 S2: are quiet people watching their animals. But this event comes 728 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,800 S2: that changes everything. And I love the way it says 729 00:41:29,800 --> 00:41:34,400 S2: it has stayed with us. Yes, the complexity of fear, 730 00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:37,799 S2: of sorrow, of wonderment, of joy stays with us and 731 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:41,239 S2: we can't sentimentalize any of them, right? 732 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:46,439 S1: And they would never forget, you know, uh, Sandy is 733 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:50,040 S1: in Peoria, Illinois. Sandy, we're going to we're going to 734 00:41:50,080 --> 00:41:52,719 S1: go into wherever you are today and listen to a 735 00:41:52,719 --> 00:41:55,400 S1: poem that you wrote. This was a few years ago, right? 736 00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:57,760 S5: Yes. It was. Yeah. 737 00:41:57,800 --> 00:41:59,720 S1: Tell me about it. What? Why did you write this? 738 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:05,430 S5: Our, um, organist at our church was commissioned to do 739 00:42:05,430 --> 00:42:09,750 S5: an original anthem for Christmas. And so he contacted me 740 00:42:09,750 --> 00:42:15,870 S5: and asked if I had any lyrics that might be appropriate. And, um, 741 00:42:15,870 --> 00:42:17,950 S5: at the time, I didn't think I had anything that 742 00:42:17,950 --> 00:42:22,550 S5: would lend itself to a musical composition. But I began 743 00:42:22,550 --> 00:42:25,630 S5: to think, and over the next three weeks I tried 744 00:42:25,630 --> 00:42:29,230 S5: to write something and nothing came. And then one night 745 00:42:29,230 --> 00:42:32,590 S5: when I was supposed to be sleeping, these words came. 746 00:42:32,590 --> 00:42:35,509 S5: And over the next few days I gave them shape 747 00:42:35,510 --> 00:42:37,670 S5: and it became the dawn of glory. 748 00:42:38,190 --> 00:42:40,710 S1: Hmm. Would you do a little bit of that for us? 749 00:42:41,230 --> 00:42:44,190 S5: Yes, I would do just the opening. I won't do 750 00:42:44,190 --> 00:42:47,830 S5: it all because it was a long work. Um, the 751 00:42:47,830 --> 00:42:53,549 S5: people on earth were walking aimlessly, walking Earth, sod. The 752 00:42:53,550 --> 00:42:58,190 S5: people on earth were walking without thought or fear of God. 753 00:42:58,870 --> 00:43:03,620 S5: Like a distant drumbeat approaching was each gasp of fading 754 00:43:03,620 --> 00:43:07,380 S5: breath as the people on earth were walking without hope 755 00:43:07,620 --> 00:43:12,340 S5: in the shadow of death, blinded in a shroud of darkness. 756 00:43:12,739 --> 00:43:18,020 S5: In silence they stumbled along, having shunned God's guiding goodness. 757 00:43:18,380 --> 00:43:24,100 S5: They had lost creation. Song. Then suddenly a light so brilliant. 758 00:43:24,500 --> 00:43:29,460 S5: Set ablaze the sky. As God was giving birth to hope. 759 00:43:29,820 --> 00:43:34,100 S5: Proclaimed in a baby's cry. The bright and morning star 760 00:43:34,580 --> 00:43:38,379 S5: had dawned upon the earth. The Holy One of heaven 761 00:43:38,620 --> 00:43:44,220 S5: was God's display of human worth. He came as love residing. 762 00:43:44,580 --> 00:43:48,660 S5: For we did not understand the tarnish of our splendor 763 00:43:49,219 --> 00:43:50,980 S5: until God became a man. 764 00:43:51,820 --> 00:43:54,580 S3: Wow. That's beautiful. 765 00:43:54,620 --> 00:44:00,010 S1: I love the aimlessly walking, the almost the slouching toward Gomorrah. 766 00:44:00,050 --> 00:44:02,930 S1: You know, the stumbling along, the shuffling that John was 767 00:44:02,930 --> 00:44:08,010 S1: saying that. And then God gave birth to hope and 768 00:44:08,010 --> 00:44:10,129 S1: and to peace for us. And if you could read 769 00:44:10,130 --> 00:44:13,410 S1: the whole thing, you probably would get to the, you know, 770 00:44:13,450 --> 00:44:15,730 S1: peace on earth probably is in there somewhere. 771 00:44:15,969 --> 00:44:19,970 S5: Uh, I get to the New Testament later on in it. Yes. 772 00:44:20,489 --> 00:44:22,730 S1: God bless you, friend. Thank you for sharing that poem 773 00:44:22,730 --> 00:44:26,170 S1: with us today and for shaping you. She said that 774 00:44:26,170 --> 00:44:29,610 S1: she gave shape to the words. And that's what a poet. 775 00:44:29,610 --> 00:44:30,969 S3: Will do, right? 776 00:44:31,090 --> 00:44:34,690 S1: Shape it and form it so that we can take 777 00:44:34,690 --> 00:44:38,850 S1: it in and, uh, and understand more. Anything else you 778 00:44:38,850 --> 00:44:40,770 S1: want to say before we end here today, Rosie? 779 00:44:40,810 --> 00:44:43,690 S2: Oh, I think we ought to end with the hope 780 00:44:43,690 --> 00:44:46,170 S2: and longing for. Come, Lord Jesus. And this is one 781 00:44:46,170 --> 00:44:49,930 S2: more poem. Come, Lord Jesus, come this night with your 782 00:44:49,930 --> 00:44:52,770 S2: purging and your power. For the earth is dark with blight. 783 00:44:52,770 --> 00:44:55,969 S2: And in sin we run and cower before the splendid 784 00:44:55,969 --> 00:44:59,640 S2: raging sight of the breaking of the night. Come, my lord. 785 00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:04,200 S2: Our darkness quell. I love that word. Break the bonds 786 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:08,040 S2: of time and space. All the powers of evil. Rend 787 00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:13,360 S2: by the radiance of your face. The laughing stars with joy. Attend. Come, 788 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,520 S2: Lord Jesus, be my end. 789 00:45:18,160 --> 00:45:22,080 S1: And there is a sense, even in that hour, darkness quell. 790 00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:27,920 S1: We started with Emmanuelle. We started with God, with us. 791 00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:33,360 S1: And we think abundance is, uh, stuff or things or 792 00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:38,160 S1: or quietness, a calmness, a peace to our lives. And 793 00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:40,160 S1: if you don't have that, it's like, well, why didn't 794 00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:44,960 S1: God show up here? But quelling the darkness, quelling the 795 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:49,520 S1: the lack of peace in the it's it's his presence 796 00:45:49,520 --> 00:45:53,080 S1: in the middle of all of the animals there. You know, 797 00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:55,640 S1: in that, in that stable in the middle of the 798 00:45:55,640 --> 00:46:02,750 S1: manger here is God, very God with us. That's the prize. 799 00:46:02,750 --> 00:46:04,350 S1: His presence is. The prize. 800 00:46:04,390 --> 00:46:04,670 S3: Isn't. 801 00:46:04,670 --> 00:46:07,390 S2: Exactly right. The morning star shouting their joy. 802 00:46:08,510 --> 00:46:10,230 S1: Rosie, merry Christmas. 803 00:46:10,670 --> 00:46:11,150 S3: You. 804 00:46:11,150 --> 00:46:13,030 S2: To Chris and to all of yours. 805 00:46:13,390 --> 00:46:13,910 S3: Yeah. 806 00:46:13,910 --> 00:46:17,230 S1: Thank you for for doing this again this year and 807 00:46:17,230 --> 00:46:19,270 S1: come back and see us real soon. Let's talk in 808 00:46:19,270 --> 00:46:20,109 S1: the new year, okay? 809 00:46:20,150 --> 00:46:21,710 S3: Alright. Thank you. 810 00:46:21,750 --> 00:46:26,190 S1: That's Doctor Rosalie de rosette again. I highly recommend Seduced 811 00:46:26,190 --> 00:46:29,390 S1: and Shaken, the book we have linked by Rosie and 812 00:46:29,390 --> 00:46:31,510 S1: will also put up there that book that she read 813 00:46:31,510 --> 00:46:36,630 S1: from from Doctor Kessler. He was on Yesterday Christmas Travelers Reflections, 814 00:46:36,630 --> 00:46:40,830 S1: Essays and poems for Spiritual Pilgrims. You'll find it at 815 00:46:40,830 --> 00:46:44,910 S1: Chris Faber, Livorno. Our program is a production of Moody Radio, 816 00:46:44,950 --> 00:46:47,470 S1: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.