The richly imaginative text of Calm, On the Listening Ear of Night, by Edmund Sears, presents the angelic announcement of the incarnation of Christ from the perspective of creation. The night is listening in calm anticipation, the hills of Palestine eagerly answer the angelic refrain, the Sea of Galilee is calmed, Sharon waves her palms. This text reminds us that the proper response to the incarnation is glad worship. But the poem also foreshadows the sad truth that Jesus was largely rejected by his people. The One who calmed the Sea of Galilee and was welcomed into Jerusalem with palm branches was sent to the cross to suffer and die. Let those who receive him join with creation in declaring: “Light on thy hills, Jerusalem, the Savior now is born!”
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