I have been reading regularly from the little Unity booklet entitled, “A Christmas of Light and Peace”. While most of the readings resonate for me, this particular article by Rev. David Brian Adams resonated so much I felt it was something I could have written!
I’d like to share this bit of inspiration with you here:
“Music has always been a source of inspiration for me. The simple melodies of contemplative chant, the rich harmony of voices rising together in song, the wordless yet soul-stirring swell of a symphony – each has the power to call us away from our care and concerns, if only for a little while. Music can open our hearts to the unspoken language of our true nature – love.
My favourite moments during Advent combine music and ritual. One such inspiring ritual is the candle lighting service many churches offer on Christmas Eve. The simple, elegant melody of ‘Silent Night’ creates a sense of stillness in the space. Wrapped in stillness, the symbolism of one candle being lit, and that single light being passed from one person to another until the entire room is aglow takes my breath away.
During World War 1, ‘Silent Night’ was sung on the battlefield, bringing about a temporary truce as soldiers of different countries and faiths laid down their arms. I imagine, just like the candle lighting, that this began with a single voice being raised. As that voice spread, it ignited something in the souls of those soldiers. Before long, the simple power of music to draw humanity together outshone the complexities of war.
Music is one of the myraid ways love expresses in, as, and through us. Love can reach beyond discord and draw us back to itself. We simply must be willing to stand firm in love and allow it to flow. Love is the expression of our completeness, flooding the gaps of any perceived challenge with its pure, vital essence. Love, like music, requires no words to soothe our hearts and minds. The sounds of ‘Silent Night’ on the battlefield in 1914 were nothing more than love called into fullness. It may be hard to imagine love being present in that atmosphere of strife and conflict, but love was there.
Love is our true nature. Therefore, we are never without it. An ongoing war was no match for the harmonizing, unifying power of love on that Christmas Eve, and the same is true today.
As we arrive at the midpoint of our Advent journey, be reminded that love is not a feeling, but a principle. Love is the essence of our being, requiring nothing of us other than to be expressed. It rises within us like a single voice. It seeks its own, swelling within all who are willing to join its refrain.
Choose to be like that single candle or that first soldier on the battlefield. Bring the light of your true nature into the world, and listen as the beautiful symphony it can inspire unfolds.”
May you experience all the love you can this holiday season!
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