# New Day 5 > Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God. ### Opening Prayer: *Lord Jesus Christ,* ​ *Thou Son of the Most High, Prince of Peace, be born into our world. Wherever there is war in this world, wherever there is pain, wherever there is loneliness, wherever there is no hope, come, thou long-expected one, with healing in thy wings.* ​ *Holy Child, whom the shepherds and the kings and the dumb beasts adored, be born again. Wherever there is boredom, wherever there is fear of failure, wherever there is temptation too strong to resist, wherever there is bitterness of heart, come, thou blessed one, with healing in thy wings.* ​ *Saviour, be born in each of us who raises his face to thy face, not knowing fully who he is or who thou art, knowing only that thy love is beyond his knowing and that no other has the power to make him whole. Come, Lord Jesus, to each who longs for thee even though he has forgotten thy name. Come quickly. Amen. (The Hungering Dark by Frederick Buechner)* #### Psalm for the Week: Psalm 98 #### Make a Joyful Noise to the Lord #### A Psalm. *98 Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things!His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.* *4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!* *5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!* *6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! 7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!* *8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together9 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.* #### Scripture for the Day: Luke 2:36-40 *36 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.[a] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.* #### The Return to Nazareth *39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.* #### Reading for Reflection: *You have an idea of what the new country looks like. Still, you are very much at home, although not truly at peace, in the old country. You know the ways of the old country, its joys and pains, its happy and sad moments. You have spent most of your days there. Even though you know that you have not found there what your heart most desires, you remain quite attached to it. It has become part of your very bones.* ​ *Now you have come to realize that you must leave it and enter the new country, where your Beloved dwells. You know that what helped and guided you in the old country no longer works, but what else do you have to go by? You are being asked to trust that you will find what you need in the new country. That requires the death of what has become so precious to you: influence, success, yes, even affection and praise.* ​ *Trust is so hard, since you have nothing to fall back on. Still, trust is what is essential. The new country is where you are called to go, and the only way to go there is naked and vulnerable.* ​ *It seems that you keep crossing and recrossing the border. For a while you experience a real joy in the new country. But then you feel afraid and start longing again for all you left behind, so you go back to the old country. To your dismay, you discover that the old country has lost its charm. Risk a few more steps into the new country, trusting that each time you enter it, you will feel more comfortable and be able to stay longer. (The Inner Voice of Love by Henri J. M. Nouwen)* #### Reflection and Listening: silent and written #### Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself #### Song for the Week: O Little Town of Bethlehem *O little town of Bethlehem,* *How still we see the lie!* *Above thy deep and dreamless sleep* *The silent stars go by;* *Yet in thy dark streets shineth* *The everlasting Light;* *The hopes and fears of all the years* *Are met in thee to-night.* *For Christ is born of Mary, And gathered all above,* *While mortals sleep, the angels keep* *Their watch of wondering love.* *O morning stars, together* *Proclaim the holy birth!* *And praises sing to God the King,* *And peace to men on earth.* *How silently, how silently,* *The wondrous gift is given!* *So God imparts to human hearts* *The blessings of his heaven.* *No ear may hear his coming,* *But in this world of sin,* *Where meek souls will receive him, still* *The dear Christ enters in* *Where children pure and happy* *Pray to the blessed Child,* *Where misery cries out to thee,* *Son of the mother mild;* *Where charity stands watching And faith holds wide the door,* *The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,* *And Christmas comes once more.* *O holy Child of Bethlehem!* *Descend to us, we pray;* *Cast out our sin and enter in,Be born in us to-day.* *We hear the Christmas angels* *The great glad tidings tell;* *O come to us, abide with us,* *Our Lord Emmanuel!* ### Closing Prayer *O Lord our God, may something new be born in us this day, as well as this season—this season where we celebrate your birth into this cold and cruel world. This season where we rejoice over your amazing arrival to live among us; to give us light and life and hope and peace. We pray this in the Name of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)*