Silent Night has long been a Christmas favorite. Did you know it started with a broken organ?

A broken church organ in an Austrian town more than 200 years ago. The words were penned by a young priest in Oberndorf, a reflection on the night angels announced the birth of the long-awaited Messiah to shepherds on a hillside. He wanted the poem set to music for Christmas Eve mass. But the church organ was in need of repair. So, a friend composed a melody for the guitar.

Like Jesus’ birth, God’s plan doesn’t always look the way we think it should. 

All is calm. All is bright.

One of the benefits of 2020, the year of the pandemic, is that our world is more tranquil. Traffic levels are diminished because people are out of work or working from home. Urged to shelter in place, people are choosing quieter activities. The hustle and bustle of even the holiday season has slowed. In a way, our lives have been lived acapella for these many months.

You might not have noticed. But the sparrows have. Because it is quieter on Earth, sparrows in Northern California are rendering a softer version of their usual melody. Ornithologists found that the birds are singing in a lower register, allowing them to sing a more varied melody. “When they sing softer, they can sing a wider range of notes, a sweeter song you might say,” Jennifer Phillips, a researcher at California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo, told the SF. Chronicle.

Heavenly hosts sing alleluia

While the birds aren’t issuing a proclamation, they remind us that quiet has its benefits.  It may be wiser stop and listen. To ponder. 

Christ the Savior is born.

Scientists don’t know if the sparrows will continue singing softly. They may revert to a previous version of their tune once the din of human activity increases. Those born during the pandemic, whose first songs were quieter, may end up being mismatched with the rest of their brethren.

God intends for those who believe to be set apart. He desires for us to listen. 

“Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The LORD of hosts is with us

Psalm 46:10-11

 If we do, who knows what song we may learn to sing? 

Oh, sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!

Psalm 98:1