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Fall...on...




O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appear'd and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born;
O night divine, O night, O night Divine
Led by the light of Faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here come the wise men from the Orient land.
The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friend.
He knows our need, to our weaknesses no stranger,
Behold your King! Before Him lowly bend!
Behold your King, Before Him lowly bend!
Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord! O praise His Name forever
His power and glory evermore proclaim.
His power and glory evermore proclaim.

            The first verse of this song was the special music in church this morning. I’m glad I didn’t cry. It’s not the easiest song in the world to sing. Here’s a slightly different version: O Night Divine    
         When they get to the “Fall on your knees!” part, or the “Christ is the Lord!” part, well, there isn’t much more moving. Falling on our knees isn’t something we do now. Bowing is something that rock stars and celebrities do at the end of a performance. And we forget or don’t realize that they are bowing to us as our servants. 
                I don’t recall all of the details of last year – or was it two years ago? I remember that my knee, or knees hurt, and the desperate thought that kept echoing in my soul was “Bend the knee.” Bend the knee, even if the knees hurt. Fall…on…your…knees! Christ…is…the…Lord. I remember thinking “Not my will, but Thine be done,” over and over.  
               But this song’s fall on your knees isn’t some drill sergeant’s command. It’s a response to something so overwhelming, so beautiful, so magnificent that it takes your breath away. The only possible sane response is to bow, to kneel.  I’m trying to think of something I’ve seen that is that magnificent. I don’t think the Grand Canyon is enough. Maybe the tide pounding in on the rocks at Acadia. Maybe Glacier National Park. Maybe the Orion Nebula. Probably the aurora borealis. Maybe a tiny taste was the night I saw the Luna Moth after wanting to see one for fifty years. Truth told, all of those are small potatoes in comparison to what this song describes.

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