Hark!

So this English word, “Hark!” has become a profound Christmas message. It it is an english word, a verb, “to play close attention.” Through the Old Testament we get this kind of message a lot. Hear! Listen! Pay Attention. It’s the voice of God breaking in to tell us that we’re about to be in on something very special. Tune in! So it’s surprising and beautiful that the New Testament story starts with lots of Harking and Heralding. Lots of announcements for people to pay attention. 

One of the first “Hark!” moments came with great news: Zechariah’s going to be a dad, and this son of his is going to be John, a great man to be used by God. Amazing. This is front page news! Then Gabriel, this Good News bringer, this angel, says, “nope, you have good news, but you will be mute.” And he was.

Often this would happen in Jesus’ ministry, too. Someone would get healed or freed in some beautiful way then Jesus would say, “hush” be still. Quiet. Keep it to yourself. Why? It’s Good News worth sharing? If it was me, and I had good news, I’d share it far and wide. But, I think there is a deeper wisdom here. Sometimes when we get good news we want it to be validated, we want others to tell us if it’s true or not, to agree with us, to help us sort out what we’ve just experienced. We are hungry for approval, for clarity. But God’s Good News doesn’t need a vote by committee, it just IS. I think Good News, like the Good News we are about to see throughout the Christmas Story, is often met with a holy hush because it’s signalling how we all need to hold the Good News of Jesus for awhile: we need to hold it close. 

The early Church fathers loves the work of stillness to make our hearts grow to fit the Good News.