Tomorrow Christians celebrate Christmas. Hanukkah, the festival of light, begins for people of Jewish faith on Dec. 25 and ends Thursday, January 2, 2025. Kwanzaa, a holiday honoring the culture and tradition of people of African origin, begins on December 26 and ends on January 1. For many people, for many reasons, it is indeed a season of hope. Today’s post continues to explore our individual and collective battle between darkness and light and despair and hope; it concludes with a simple song that I offer as a gift of hope.  

A friend commented last week that Christmas no longer felt like a holiday or holy day to him. It was rather a deadline. He was exhausted from the rush to both do his job and to prepare for his annual Christmas gathering with his large family. It occurs on Dec. 21 so everyone can make it. His deadline was coming four days early!

I went to an inspiring Advent service last Sunday full of hope and light. A day later, darkness overcame the light as I struggled to make a complex book publishing deadline.   We’re also preparing for a different kind of Christmas, with part of the family out of the country visiting other family members. 

The commercial focus on the perfect gift, perfect tree and perfect meal don’t help the emotional and spiritual grounding for the season.

As I have shared often here, it is easy for me to go negative and dark, particularly when tired. I don’t think I am particularly unique in that tendency.

So my wish for you this holy season, and time of hope and light, is a song that reminds us to hope no matter what. Some say it was written by a Baptist minister; others consider it of Quaker origin.  Pete Seeger allegedly added or popularized a verse. 

While the song is written from a Christian perspective, for me the desire for hope and belief in good it lauds is universal. It invites us to joy and song no matter what is happening in our world. Hard times are ahead for America and for people who believe in freedom and equality. Yet as another friend reminds me regularly: We are spiritual beings living a human experience that includes light and darkness, hope and despair. 

Each moment is a choice about which voice we listen to, and which direction we want to head with our choices. As humans, our choices will always be messy and imperfect. We are invited to desire hope and love in each moment. And that is the invitation of the season and of this song. Enjoy!   

“How Can I Keep From Singing?” 

  My life flows on in endless song;
  Above earth’s lamentation,

  I catch the sweet†, tho’ far-off hymn
  That hails a new creation;
  Thro’ all the tumult and the strife
  I hear the music ringing;
  It finds an echo in my soul—
  How can I keep from singing?

  What tho’ my joys and comforts die?
  The Lord my Saviour liveth;
  What tho’ the darkness gather round?
  Songs in the night he giveth.
  No storm can shake my inmost calm
  While to that refuge clinging;
  Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
  How can I keep from singing?

  I lift my eyes; the cloud grows thin;
  I see the blue above it;
  And day by day this pathway smooths,
  Since first I learned to love it,
  The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
  A fountain ever springing;
  All things are mine since I am his—
  How can I keep from singing?

 When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
  And hear their death-knell ringing,
  When friends rejoice both far and near,
  How can I keep from singing?
  In prison cell and dungeon vile,
  Our thoughts to them go winging;
  When friends by shame are undefiled,
  How can I keep from singing?*

Song in the Public Domain, last verse added in 1950