In the 1300's Julian of Norwich claimed to have had a series of heavenly visions in one of which Jesus appeared to her and gave her assurance regarding the presence of evil in the world. He is said to have ended with these now iconic words: "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
Though none can know for certain whether these were the actual words of Christ, they do proclaim a truth that has comforted Christians throughout the centuries, stretching back to a time before Christ. "All shall be well!" Was proclaimed by Adam to His son Seth, by Noah when he built the Ark, by Abraham when he packed up his household and set out from Ur, by Moses when he stood before Pharaoh, by Ruth when she left her homeland to go with Naomi, by David when he chose five stones from the brook Kidron, by Nehemiah when he left the Babylonian court for a shattered Jerusalem, Mary when conceived her firstborn by the Spirit of God, and by the Angels, the night of the Christ child's birth.
"All shall be well!" They cried, if not with their lips, their faith in God, "All manner of things shall be well."
That is what God is about, you see. He is in the business of making all manner of things to be well, and for our little planet spinning amidst the twinkling spirals of the milky way, that culminated in the birth of God's son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem those under the law. We can now say, not only that all shall be well, but that all is well. Emmanuel has come. God is with us. All is indeed well, and all manner of things shall be well, by and by.
This brings us to today's carol: All is Well by Michael Smith. I'm not a great lover of Michael Smith on the whole, and I tend to shy away from pop Christian music on the whole. However, every year I do include one or two that I find beautiful, and this is one of them. This moving Christmas carol manages to encapsulate both the stillness and the joy of Christmas in the same space. I'm not entirely sure how it manages, but it does.
I'll leave it there because I've had a full day and I'm exhausted. You can have more tomorrow, but be it known, this was posted before midnight on the proper day, so, even if you see this tomorrow, I have proof that I did not post two in one day. Alright, that's it for tonight. I hope you enjoy this lovely song either as a lullaby before bed or call to rejoicing in the morning.
1 comments:
I was at Christmas at Christ last night. Well done, my friend! I'll add the Shunammite woman's response to Elisha, "It is well". Thank you for sharing this song! What a beautiful rendition.
Post a Comment