"Devotional Period"

White Ribbon, Volume 20, Issue 11, 1 December 1948, Page 3

"Devotional Period"

HYMN No. 8, W.R. Hymnal. Scripture Reading: St. Luke 2, verses 8-18. "Abiding in the Field.” It was so wonderlul that the song was heard by tiiese simple, country shcplierus alone, and that to them was entrusted the lovely task ol giving the world a story ot such astounding beauty. Not to the educated, learned, sophisticated "Wise Men’ was the vision given, or the extraoi canary, terriiying deligh*. of that music. ‘’Abiding in the held.” It was a somewhat dreary task, that of watching over the hocks by night. The danger of an attack on the Hock from wolves, or from robbers; the possibility of loss by straying, the necessity for vigilance in the cold of the winter night, lest the sheep should suffer lor want of such shelter as could be given them—these were constant dangers, and it was the regular, perhaps monotonous task of the shepherd to be vigilant through the dark hours. What an amazing experience for men under such conditions! Under any conditions it would have been amazing, but “suddenly,' the music began, the Angel appeared and spoke, and life could never be the same again for them. How one longs to know the sound of the music, the cadence of that song whose echoes have never died down and which is sung as mortals sing for as long as they inhabit this earth. To have heard angels— to have actually listened to the music of Heaven —was a tiling reserved for these men who were “Abiding in the field.” Yet, is it not tiue that even now’, in the quiet, unquestioning carrying on of the daily routine, the task of monotony and endless necessity, the heart hears the song? The message of Peace and Goodwill is ever being repeated. In the deep innermost places of the soul, it is heard above and through all the sorrow and turmoil of life. Let us, for every reason, keep our hearing keen and alert. All joy. all strength, all sense of safety and security may be ours if we let ourselves be aware of the mystery and wonder which are surely round and about us. So shall Christmas Tide be our r portunity for listening, and what we ..ear shall lift life on to a higher plane for ourselves and so for all around us. This will be i. “Happy Christmas.” PRAYER.