The First Presidency Christmas Devotional last night was amazing. In congruence with what we talked about at church that day, an amazing realization struck me: we were there, singing as angels at His birth, and now we herald His second coming in this life.
Our choir director is in Women's Chorus. At Celebrations of Christmas, they sang "Silent Night". Our choir is also singing "Silent Night", so I choir director presented us with an interesting idea that her choir director had presented. As we sing "Silent Night", we are to think about that night, about the angels, the shepherds. Then think that we were probably one of those angels who sang praises on that lonely hill with the shepherds. When we sang that song, we were to pick a character from the manger scene and sing as that character. Our choir director told us she always picks the angel. I found it really interesting and wonderful to think that I really was one of those angels.
With this idea still fresh in my mind, I watched the Christmas Devotional. President Uchtdorf said, "When Jesus was born, the joy in Heaven was so great, it could not be contained." (May be slightly different, I don't have the actual text.) We know this from the Book of Mormon account when the Heavens lit up, and from the Bible when the angels sang to the shepherds. When he said that, I thought about how I was one of those angels that could not be contained. Was I one of the angels who sang to the shepherds? I don't know if I have ever felt joy like that since that day long ago, but I know my soul still remembers the feeling.
When he spoke of our duty now, to prepare the Earth for His second coming, everything clicked with perfect clarity. We were there, that silent night so long ago. We were the ones who couldn't be contained within the veil. We were filled with so much joy we could not be quiet. Now, we are here to herald Christ's Second Coming. We don't speak out because we feel nervous or worried about rejection or looking stupid. I would assert that in order to overcome this fear and hesitation, we must reconnect with the joy we felt when Christ was born at the Meridian of Time. Our souls know the feeling, and long to feel it again. Through the Gospel, we can find that joy, and when we do, we will not be able to be contained by our mortal feelings: we will share that joy with the whole world. I hope someday I can reconnect with that joy, and fulfill this yearning in my soul for the pure love of Christ, the greatest joy of all.
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