The "Christmas Conjunction"

 I took these photos in my front yard starting just after 5 p.m. CST today with Cathy's assistance. I used my Samsung S9 smart phone mounted on a tripod. Tonight is the closest approach of Jupiter and Saturn; tomorrow and for a few days afterward they will be farther apart, but still seem quite close. Not long after I finish this post, they will disappear behind the horizon. 

But according to NASA, if we placed a dime on the goal line of a football field and pretended it was the sun, Jupiter would be at about the 10.5-yard line. Saturn would be almost twice as far out, at the 19-yard line. So they do not ever actually come close to one another. (Earth would be about two yards out from the dime-sized sun.) 

Here is looking from our front yard. The planets are the bright dot above our neighbor's house, between the power lines. 

Here is a telephoto view. I do have conventional digital and film cameras, but not with 8X telephoto like my phone has. This shot is about 4X.

Here is a series of 8x telephoto shots. Basically, if you've seen one you've seen them all. The phone does have a "night" photo setting, but after I used it, I could not tell any difference, probably because the phone was already stable on the tripod. But you can definitely tell there are two separate planets, and which one is Jupiter. 

 

One final frame and we bid the conjunction adieu.

I hope you got to see it, too!

BTW, the Bethlehem star that the magi, or wise men, followed to find the Christ child was also a conjunction of Jupiter, although not with Saturn, but with the star Regulus. Modern astronomers have calculated it quite precisely. Read about that in, "Why is Christmas on December 25?"

Merry Christmas to all, and God bless us, every one!

A Quiz on the Origins of Christmas Traditions

Here is a little quiz on the origin of many Christian traditions of the Western world. First the quiz and then the answers. Good luck!

1.True or False:  The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem.

2. T or F: The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be born in December.

3. T or F: The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be born of a virgin mother.

4. T or F: The early church began the tradition of the Christmas tree.

5. T or F: Saint Nicholas figures prominently in our Christmas celebrations because he was the church leader who made Christmas a Catholic festival day.

6.Which of the following figures does not appear in the Gospels’ narratives of the birth of Jesus?
        a. Shepherds
        b. Angels
        c. Astrologers
        d. A drummer boy

7. T or F: Christmas gets its name because for centuries the Catholic church celebrated a Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve called the “Christ Mass.”

8. T or F: In colonial America, the Puritans were well known for celebrating Christmas as a major church holiday.

9.The pagan Romans celebrated which of the following on Dec. 25?
        a. The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.
        b. The birthday of the Roman deity Mithra, the god of the regenerating sun.
        c. The feast of Saturnalia.
        d. None of the above.

10. T or F: The early church set Dec. 25 as the celebration of the nativity of Jesus so that it would occur between the Roman feast of Saturnalia, Dec. 19, and the Roman feast of Kalends, which occurred on January 1.

11. T or F: Christmas Day is a legal holiday in Egypt.

12. Saint Nicholas was Bishop Nicholas of Myra, in what is modern Turkey, in the early 300s. He is considered the protector of what kinds of persons?
        a. Virgins
        b. Thieves
        c. Children
        d. Sailors

13. T or F: Part of St. Nicholas is entombed in Flushing, NY.

14. When did the first retail-store Santa Claus appear? Between ...
        a. 1800-1850
        b. 1851-1900
        c. 1901-1950
        d. After 1950

15. T or F: The Christmas tree is actually of pagan origin, dating from pre-Christian Germany and adopted and Christianized by Christian missionaries.

 
Christmas Tree at NYC's Rockefeller Center, 2019

16.When did the Christmas tree come into widespread usage in the United States?

        a. Before the Revolutionary War 
        b. Between 1820-1840
        c. The late 1800s.

17. In Old England, on what day of the year did masters and servants eat the same meal at the same table?
        a. The monarch’s birthday, to signify that they were all alike subjects of the king or queen.
        b. June 15, the date King John agreed to the terms of the Magna Carta in 1215, to signify that they all alike had their rights as English people confirmed by the sovereign.
        c. Thanksgiving Day, to signify together their common dependency on a gracious God.
        d. Christmas Day, in the spirit of humility before Christ's incarnation, the act of divine condescension before which all persons are equal.

18. Which US president began the custom of lighting the public White House Christmas tree?
        a. Abraham Lincoln, who used candles
        b. Grover Cleveland, in whose term the White House was wired for electricity
        c. Calvin Coolidge, whose home state of Vermont sent him a tree.
        d. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who used it as a beacon of hope during the Great Depression

19. T or F: Christmas carols were begun by church leaders 800 years ago, notably St.Francis of Assisi, because popular music had become too bawdy and impious.

20. Christmas cards began –
        a. In late Medieval times as a means by which the Pope sent Christmas blessings and instructions for the new year to the bishops in Europe.
        b. In the Thirty Years War, 1618-1648, when generals offered to send soldiers’ Christmas letters home free of charge.
        c. During England’s Industrial Revolution in the 1840s, when wages rose enough for ordinary people to afford the penny postage cost and the steam press enabled inexpensive printing of the cards.

21. Extra credit: What American economic occurrence is credited by historians with beginning the modern commercialization of Christmas, and when was it?

 

The Answers:

1. True The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Christians have said from the beginning that this verse, written several hundred years before Jesus was born, prophesied his birth in Bethlehem:  Mic 5:2   

But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 

2. False "The Old Testament prophesied that the Messiah would be born in December." No time of birth was prophesied at all. 

3. True The prophet Isaiah foretold that the Messiah would be born of a virgin mother. Matthew's Gospel (1:23) says thus: " 'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,' which means, 'God is with us'." 

However, Matthew is quoting a Greek translation (the Septuagint) of Isaiah 7:14, which says (NRSV), “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel” (my italics). The Septuagint translated the Hebrew word, almah (young woman, maiden) using the Greek word parthenos (virgin). So the answer might be, “True, sort of.” OTOH, the 70 scholars who translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek were no dummies and were all Jews besides, so their interpretation of almah as "virgin" should carry a lot of weight.

4. False        "The early church began the tradition of the Christmas tree." Nope, not even close. 

5. False "Saint Nicholas figures prominently in our Christmas celebrations because he was the church leader who made Christmas a Catholic festival day." It is a festival day, but not because of St. Nick.

Christmas was celebrated from the very early days of the Church in various localities (the nearer to Jerusalem, the more likely the celebration). Several church leaders promoted the day, including Chrysostom and St. Ambrose, and the day appeared on all Western Church calendars no later than the mid-300s and on Eastern Church calendars a couple of decades later.

6. Which of the following figures does not appear in the Gospels’ narratives of the birth of Jesus? 

        d. A drummer boy

7. True Christmas gets its name because for centuries the Catholic church celebrated a Mass at midnight on Christmas Eve called the “Christ Mass.” This word dates to 1038's Old English, “Cristes Maess.” Other languages use different words and word origins.

8. False "In colonial America, the Puritans were well known for celebrating Christmas as a major church holiday."

Puritans actually outlawed Christmas in Boston during part of the 17th century. English Protestantism generally resisted celebrating Christmas. Puritans also got Christmas outlawed in England during the Interregnum, resulting in pro-Christmas rioting, even in Canterbury. The ban was lifted in 1660 with the Restoration.

9. The Romans celebrated which of the following on Dec. 25?

        d. None of the above. 

Mithra, a deity imported from Persia by the Roman military, became an important member of the Roman pantheon as time went on. By the middle of the third century, Mithraism was the main religion of Rome. Modern skeptics' claims that Mithra's birthday is Dec. 25 lack historical documentation. The Feast of Saturnalia was instituted originally for Dec. 17 and was later extended to Dec. 24. The winter solstice, of course, is Dec. 21. 

10. False The quiz question was, "The early church set Dec. 25 as the celebration of the nativity of Jesus so that it would occur between the Roman feast of Saturnalia, Dec. 19, and the Roman feast of Kalends, which occurred on January 1."  

First, that Christmas was set to “take over” or Christianize the feast of Saturnalia (or of Mithra) is refuted by historical evidence. The early Christian scholar Tertullian dated Jesus' birth as Dec. 25 seventy-five years before Emperor Aurelian instituted a Roman, pagan celebration of the winter solstice. Tertullian's calculations were based on legendary-type beliefs about martyred Jewish prophets and so hold no weight today, but he nonetheless did date Jesus' birth to Dec. 25 decades before anyone in pagan Roman religion even noted the date on the calendar.

However, it is far more likely that Dec. 25 was celebrated from the very early days of the post-Pentecost church because that is the day of the year that modern astronomical calculations support as the day the Wise Men, or magi, arrived at Bethlehem to bring gifts to the King of the Jews; Jesus was probably a toddler by then, not an infant.

Read all about it in excruciating detail in my essay, "Why is Christmas on December 25?" -- Whatever date Jesus was born, it almost definitely was not December 25. So why do we date Christmas on it?

11. True Christmas Day is a legal holiday in Egypt. It only became a holiday in 2003.

12. Saint Nicholas was Bishop Nicholas of Myra, in what is modern Turkey, in the early 300s. He is considered the protector of what kinds of persons (include all that apply)?

a. Virgins
b. Thieves
c. Children
d. Sailors

All of the above. The legend of St. Nicholas was spread by sailors and took root in The Netherlands as Holland was becoming a great sea power. St. Nicholas was known in life to have been kind to maidens and children. Not sure how he became a protector of thieves, though!

13. True Part of St. Nicholas is entombed in Flushing, NY. Relics of the saint, including a piece of his skull, were brought to an Eastern Orthodox church there in 1972.

14. When did the first retail-store Santa Claus appear?

a. 1851-1900 

He was James Edgar and played the part in Brockton, Mass., in 1890, the same year that Katherine Lee Bates invented Mrs. Claus in “Sunshine and Other Verses for Children.” This makes St. Nicholas the only married saint, but of course neither the Roman church nor the Eastern church recognize Mrs. Claus. 

15. False "The Christmas tree is actually of pagan origin, dating from pre-Christian times and adopted and Christianized by Christian missionaries."

The oak tree was sacred to pre-Christian Germans, not the evergreen. The Christmas tree as a symbol of new life in Christ supplanted the oak tree in Germany, probably from St. Boniface who evangelized Germany in the early 800s. Legend has it that Boniface stopped the sacrifice of young boy against an oak and then cut the oak down, whereupon a fir tree sprang up in its place. More historically, the fir tree is known to have been used in Christmas plays in Germany in the 1500s to represent the tree of knowledge of good and evil (the Genesis story). Decorating the Christmas tree probably began from the way apples were hung from this dramatic tree to represent the fruit of temptation that Adam and Eve ate. By the 1700s Christmas trees became widespread in German homes during Christmastime.

16. When did the Christmas tree come into widespread usage in the United States? 

a. The late 1800s.

17. In Old England, on what day of the year did masters and servants eat the same meal at the same table?

Christmas Day, in the spirit of humility before Christ's incarnation, the act of divine condescension before which all persons are equal.

18. Which US president began the custom of lighting the public White House Christmas tree?

Calvin Coolidge, whose home state of Vermont sent him a tree.

19. True "Christmas carols were begun by church leaders 800 years ago, notably St. Francis of Assisi, because popular music had become too bawdy and impious." 

A “carol” was a form of circle folk-singing and dancing. Beginning in the 700s, traveling minstrel shows spread the form across most of Europe and, like all pop musicians, had found great success with risque lyrics and movements, which only goes to show how long this sort of thing has been going on.

20. Christmas cards began –

During England’s Industrial Revolution in the 1840s, when wages rose enough for ordinary people to afford the penny postage cost and the steam press enabled inexpensive printing of the cards. Also, as far as I can determine, the first British penny was minted in 1840 and the penny price for postage was set then, too. 

42. Extra credit: What American economic occurrence is credited by historians with jump starting the commercialization of Christmas?

The depression of 1839-1840

The commercial aspect of the holiday began at a low level in the 1820s with the publication of “The Night Before Christmas,” attributed (later) to Clement Moore. This poem is credited with making Christmas a children’s holiday and starting the practice of giving gifts to children by parents; before then, kids were given sweets and treats. But the commercialization of Christmas in the US really got a head of steam when gift-giving was promoted to overcome the depression of 1839-1840. It’s never looked back. In England the trend was accelerated by the publication of Dickens novella, "A Christmas Carol."

A Christmas Quiz

Here is a Christmas-related quiz I put together a few years ago. First four pages are the questions, the last six are the answers and explanation. Covers the Bible, religious traditions and secular history. 

The Origins of Christmas and Quiz

Christmas and the Cross

 My family and I have lived in neighborhoods that had Homeowners Associations and and other ones, like our present one, that did not. I could make a cogent case to have them, and also not to have them. The devil, as they say, is in the details. 

But this takes the cake. Now an HOA has decided that it is a theological-decision panel.

A family in Raleigh, North Carolina were shocked when their homeowner’s association (HOA) tried to force them to remove a six-foot Christmas cross that the family put up as a holiday decoration, stating that crosses can only be displayed during Passover or Easter.

 

“Lo and behold, after putting it out right after Thanksgiving, we got a notice in the mail. It shocked us,” James Faison said to the local ABC affiliate in the city. “We believe that the cross is symbolic of hope, salvation and deliverance. It’s so important that we have this cross up for Christmas time.

 

But the HOA disagreed. 

 

In a letter, the Faisons were told, “The board does not consider this a Christmas decoration, but Easter/Passover seasonal decoration.” Ironically, James reports that there are many Christians on the board, but they believe that there should be a distinction and separation between Christmas and Easter.

 

Perhaps they forgot that you need Christmas to get to Easter, or maybe they haven’t gone to a Christmas Eve service that serves communion as a reminder of Christ’s ultimate sacrifice.

 

Either way the Faisons were given notification that if they didn’t come into “compliance,” they would be forced to pay a $100 fine.

 

“They didn’t mention anything in the bylaws, they didn’t say go look here in the bylaws as far as it relates to the HOA in the community, this is the reason why. They didn’t say any of those things,” James said. “They asked me to provide biblical references.”

 

The Faisons did as asked.

 

Part of the HOA’s response included, “The cross represents the death of Jesus Christ who died for our sins so we can have eternal life. The Christmas season is associated with the birth of the Savior such as nativity scenes would be appropriate representation of the season. The Board believes that the Bible is very clear on the distinction between these two major events in Christ’s life on earth. The cross is appropriate for display during the Easter season, but not as a decoration during the Christmas season. Unless biblical references can be provided noting the cross as a symbol of the Christmas season for the board to reconsider, the cross is not considered to be a Christmas decoration.”

So this HOA thinks it can meet for what - 15 minutes? - and refute about 2,000 years of Christian theology, as well as hundred of years of Christian iconography. 

Well. 

"For the glory of the Lord shall be revealed," promised the Scriptures, and the glory of God can hardly be beheld impassively. One either runs to embrace the Lord or runs from him. Neutrality is not even possible.

So the passages for Advent typically include reminders that, absent God’s gracing presence, we mortals are lost in our sins. Almost every Advent, the lectionary passage for the first Sunday is of the severity of God's judgment. We are reminded that, “Christ has come, Christ will come again.” And his next advent will not be so innocently or unthreateningly accomplished.

Yet Advent also shows that by being born the baby in the manger God was not going on the offensive against us. He joins us an our ally. In fact, God’s kingly, overwhelming power is found there literally to be defenseless, so much so that Joseph and Mary had to flee the town to save Jesus’ life.

Is there power in such weakness? No, not in weakness per se. Jesus’ Godly power, or our own, is found neither in human in weakness nor in strength, but in faithfulness. It is God who is strong, not we mortals. Compared to the God’s strength, human weakness is inevitable but it is also inconsequential. God knows this, so he did not shrink from being born of woman, just as we are, nor from enduring the travails of human life in all its triumphs and disappointments, its joys and frustrations.

And at the end, death on a cross. But death could not hold Jesus because God is stronger than death.

Manger scenes became a popular artistic motif during the Renaissance. In almost all such paintings, the artists included the cross somewhere in the scenery. Sometimes it was on the horizon outside the manger. One artist, Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556), painted a cross on a shelf on the manger’s wall, such as many homes would have had. 

Let us take a cue from those theologically-trained artists. They knew the connection between the manger and Calvary. So did Jesus. As his last trip to Jerusalem loomed, knowing what it portended, Jesus told the disciples, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour” (John 12:27).

As for scripturally connecting Jesus' birth with his death, read these passages.

 

What is the meaning of Christmas? The meaning of Christmas is the cross.

A reflection on the second Sunday of Advent

Advent is when we should make the jump -
will we do it willingly?

Every year at this time we list the things we want for Christmas. Kids expect great things from Santa Claus. Let’s face it, there usually is not a lot of humility in our lists of what we want. Deep down, we both expect to be given those things and think we deserve them anyway. Now, no hands, please, but how many of you have gone shopping after Christmas to buy something on your list you did not get as a gift? Somehow, at Christmas we think we deserve nice stuff, and we’re quite okay with giving nice stuff, too. But there’s a certain system at work in Christmas gift giving: we give, we get, and that’s how it’s supposed to be.

Have you ever gotten what you did not deserve? I don’t mean just at Christmas, when you were either disappointed or delighted with a surprise gift. In the Bible some people get what they deserve and others what they don’t deserve. Sometimes a king, or maybe an entire nation, say, Egypt or Israel, does wrong or sins, and then they suffer the consequences. It’s what they deserve. Like crime, sin has consequences, some of which are realized in this life, others in the next. 

There are also examples in the Bible of people getting what they do not deserve. Some of them are tragic – Jesus being sentenced to death is the leading case. Even Pilate, who sentenced him, declared that Jesus had done no wrong. But he ordered Jesus crucified anyway. 

Other times, people get what they do not deserve, and it is good. Second Samuel, chapter nine, tells the story of Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, who was son of Saul, whom David succeeded as king. At the very pinnacle of his reign, David remembered Saul. He asked his court, “Is there anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 

David did not ask, “Who among Saul’s house deserves some kindness?” He didn’t ask whether there was anyone from Saul’s house who could serve him now. No, David asks simply, “Is there anyone whom I may show kindness?”

David’s question was purely graceful and loving. “Yes,” says a former servant of Saul. “Jonathan’s son still lives. He is crippled in both feet.” Immediately, David replies, “Bring him to live here!” David restored Mephibosheth’s property, and handicapped Mephibosheth ate at David’s table. 

The story of Mephibosheth at David’s table illustrates God’s grace. Divine grace is the unmerited, unearned favor of God. Mephibosheth didn’t deserve a place at the table. He could not possibly have earned it. He was crippled and very much out of place compared to the famous generals and statesmen and the royal David and Bathsheba. Yet, there he was, dining at the finest table that could be prepared. Nothing but grace brought him there. He didn’t deserve it. 

Another fellow who didn’t deserve what he got was a young man Jesus told of who got sick and tired of living at home with Dad and Dad’s rules, Dad’s regulations, Dad’s list of chores, Dad’s discipline. He demanded his share of his inheritance now, which was basically telling Dad, you are as good as dead to me. I renounce you. And then he left the country. But he went broke and in desperation returned home, hoping that his father would at least hire him as a field hand. 

But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. The he threw a big homecoming party for his rebellious son because he felt as though his son had died, and was alive again, had been lost, but now was found. 

 One theme of Advent is the judgment of God. God rarely judges judicially, as in a courtroom. Isaiah wrote that God's judicial-type judgment is unusual, calling it God’s “strange work” and “alien task” (Isa 28:21). God’s judgment is fundamentally that of salvation and unmerited favor. God judges like a father hoping for his children to come to their senses and exulting when they do. God is an unfair judge, by our standards, because from his judgment we do not get what we deserve. And thank God we don’t.

In 586 BC the Babylonian empire conquered Jerusalem after years of warfare and exiled a large number of Jews to Babylon, hundreds of miles to the east. For decades they remained, until the king there told them they could go home. Isaiah had prophesied for forty years that Judah was in mortal danger. The first 39 chapters of the book of Isaiah are concerned with that. But the last 27 chapters take a new tone, beginning with our passage for today, Isaiah 40:1-11:

1 Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 Then the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the LORD blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.

9 Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, “Here is your God!” 10 See, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. 11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep. 

It has usually been thought that this passage announces the end of the Jews’ exile in Babylon. Or it may address the end of the troubles and wars in Israel before the exile took place. In any event Isaiah advises the people that their penalty has been paid, they have served their term, and that they have received from the Lord double for all their sins. Their sentence of war and conquest is finished, or their exile, so their debt for their sin has been paid. After all, when prisoners are released from a prison term, we say they have paid their debt to society. And that’s a sound interpretation of the passage.

But what about the part that says they have received from the Lord’s hand double for all their sins? That’s not fair; is it a case of God punishing them twice as hard as they deserved? I think this is related to the assurance of comfort. Isaiah is assuring the people that their sin really is remitted, as much as if they had received twice the sentence they should have gotten. Hence, they should be comforted.

 What does comfort mean to us? La-Z-Boy tries to sell us its recliners because they are comfortable. When we try to comfort someone in grief we commiserate with them or help them with meals or errands. Consider, though, that the word, “comfort,” is from an Old French word meaning, “to strengthen,” derived from Latin meaning the same thing. 

When God comforts his people, he gives them the strength to do what needs to be done. But the way that God sets before them is not the way they are used to. When I was stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, I asked a paratrooper acquaintance of mine how many parachute jumps he had made. 

He said, “None.” 

I said, “None? But you’re in the 82d Airborne Division!” 

“Yeah,” he said, “but I have never jumped from a plane. However, I have been pushed out seventy-eight times!” 

The comfort that God is announcing is that he will give his people the strength to to jump into a new way of living, a new way of relating to him. There is a new day coming, a new advent of God’s presence, and they need to be ready. And sometimes, God pushes us when we won't make the jump.

God will do for us mortals what we surely don’t deserve: save us from our own sin, our own faults, our own inherent inabilities. Where our morality and spirituality is a desert, a wilderness, God will make a straight highway. There is to be a new order of things now, a leveling, as it were, so that all will be with God in the same way. 

Eventually, the Jews in exile in Babylon did return home, but their new independence was short-lived. They were again conquered by the Greeks under Alexander, enjoyed another brief period of independence, then fell to the Romans, who crushed the Jewish state so utterly that it vanished until 1948. 

 Of all the prophets who foretold Christ, Isaiah was perhaps the most compelling. His prophecies of the Suffering Servant are poetically beautiful and uncannily accurate in describing the Christ. What could be more remarkable than for the Son of God to appear in person, born of woman, living among his people? Jesus was indeed “the glory of the LORD,” revealed for all people to see. 

Empires come and go, withering like grass and fading like flowers, says Isaiah, but God remains. 

A young musician once went to see his old music teacher. During the visit, his elderly mentor took a tuning fork and struck it on the end of the table. He said. “That is ‘A.’” From the floor above them they could hear the voice of a singer rehearsing. “She sings sharp,” the old teacher said with a smile. He struck the tuning fork again and paused as he lifted it and said, “She is sharp, but this is an ‘A’ — always has been, always will be — 440 vibrations per second. It will still be ‘A’ five thousand years from now.” 

The word of our God, said Isaiah, will stand forever. 

Is there a wilderness in your life? Spiritually speaking, do things seem like a desert? Be comforted, be strengthened, and during this Advent season, prepare a way for the Lord and make straight in the desert a highway for God. The glory of the Lord is coming near. Be prepared!