*This is the second in a 5 part blog series on the new Advent worship song, “Once and Again.” You may follow all the posts on councilroadwomen.org.
The advent season is upon us, and we know in our busy bones that this means we should pause to reflect – pause the shopping, pause the planning, just pause, and be with Jesus.
If you’re anything like me, this can feel like being pulled in two directions. Being still in this whirlwind of a season can feel like mixing oil and water! I find this especially true as a public school music teacher – a typical December week looks like three school concerts, three to four rehearsals, and a personal gig or two. Everybody’s busy looks different! But no matter what your busy is, when you stop to consider the season, pressing pause in a full schedule is oil and water to the soul.
However, this season could be different. Council Road has made an open invitation to meditate on the promises of God together, and it is through the inspired verse-writing of Eric Wall’s new song, “Once and Again.”
Verse One reads like a poem:
“Jesus, our Messiah,
God’s promised one.
All through generations He said that He would come.
Now here in lowly manger,
That promise now complete.
The shepherds in the field hearing ‘in excelsis.’”
I can feel the tightly-knit threads of my hurried spirit begin to slow when I consider the significance of this birth story. I specifically find myself pausing on the thought of generations of promise. In Luke 4, Jesus reads from Isaiah 61 and tells those in the synagogue they have experienced that scripture being fulfilled that very day. He talks about proclaiming good news to the poor, bringing liberty to the captives, and sight to the blind. This Isaiah passage, written over 700 years before the infant Jesus would enter the world, was a promise kept through generations.
In those 700 years, you can almost picture it: a grandmother whispers in fireside moments of tenderness with her grandson of eternal hope, a messiah to come. At a passover meal, a father remembers the eternal value of their lives and that the way they would cherish God’s Kingdom would have a lasting impact.
The song poem continues into the first pre-chorus:
“And the star in the sky was bright.
The Angels sang to glorify.
Not quite a silent night,
The day our Lord had come to win His bride.”
The accuracy of this night being far from silent is so lively and so real! If we consider all parts of this story, a chorus of angels were singing as a mother gives birth near a stable - “not quite a silent night” is right! Beautifully paralleling this, neither is a wedding, a most joyous occasion shared between family and friends. The joint remembrance of the first celebration, Jesus’ birth, and the hope of the next, when He comes again, stirs my heart towards a desire to step into the pause of advent, the Spirit tugging at my heartstrings, to be still and to know my sweet Savior who loves from the depths of eternity.
Meet the Author!
Haley Hanzel is an orchestra director, violinist, and community member at CRBC. She has taught violin for 18 years, and has been in the public school classroom for seven. She and her husband, Aaron, met in one of CRBC's home groups, and have been married two years. Some of Haley's loves are her giant puppy dog Jack, all things coffee, and seeing the world.