Nature’s Prayer on Christmas Eve
December 24, 2023
THE weeks of hectic preparation end.
The mad, rushing rivers of traffic come to a halt. The parking lots empty. The stores finally close.
Human activity seems to cease. The famous stillness of Christmas Eve descends.
But there is something more — or rather something less.
From that very first moment, nature expressed its reverence. The ox and the ass lay by the crib in sacred stillness. The rock walls of the cave, with the immovable gravity and wordless wisdom of all stone, represented the mountains and hills of this wondrous earth.
The stars were so unlike any other that peasant shepherds, humble in heart, were struck dumb.
Nature is witness to God’s artistry every day. But on Christmas Eve, the very respiration of the trees slows, small creatures cease to stir in their winter lairs, the birds want for no food, the flames of candles leap upward and in this mysterious silence we can hear the majesty of God and the peacefulness of his love.
O Holy night, silent night, when creation itself adores and throngs of angels sing.