And well we should. It’s a beautiful song.<\/span><\/p>\n For a lot of people, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without “Silent Night.”<\/span><\/p>\n But there are those who say that it’s probably not correct.<\/span><\/p>\n They reason that with the huge numbers of people flowing into Bethlehem to be counted and taxed at the time of Jesus’ birth, the city would have been bustling with noise and commotion. There’s no way, they say, Bethlehem could have been silent on the night Jesus was born.<\/span><\/p>\n As I was contemplating this after we sang “Silent Night” in church on Christmas Eve, my mind went back to Santo Domingo in January of 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n Santo Domingo is the capital of the Dominican Republic. It is the largest city in the Caribbean and has a population of close to one million people. If you include all its suburbs, the population is three million.<\/span><\/p>\n Its narrow streets are crowded with cars, motorcycles, buses, trucks, bicycles, horse-drawn carts, and virtually every kind of\u00a0wheeled conveyance known to man. In the majority of the city (outside the areas frequented by tourists and the wealthy) there are no street lights, no stop lights, no stops signs, no street signs, and certainly no speed limit signs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is beyond a melee. It even exceeds what the majority of us would describe as “chaos.” The majority of Santo Domingo is total traffic anarchy.<\/span><\/p>\n In addition to the traffic noise, the street dogs are barking, the roosters occasionally crow, there is constantly music coming from somewhere, and there are\u00a0almost always sirens audible somewhere in the distance.<\/span><\/p>\n Now, somehow, the residents cope with this. This is normal for them. This is what they grew up with.<\/span><\/p>\n When I was in Santo Domingo,\u00a0\u00a0I was blessed to be a guest in the home of Pastora Secundino and Altagracia Ulloa. I and the members of my mission team came to help and bless the people of the Iglesia de Altar de Jehovah. (Church of the Altar of God.) I slept in a basement bedroom on a two-inch thick foam mattress surrounded by the bustling, noisy, hectic sounds of life in Santo Domingo.<\/span><\/p>\n And, as we sang “Silent Night” on Christmas Eve this year, I remembered how the LORD would wake me in the middle of the night in that basement bedroom and urge me to pray.<\/span><\/p>\n As a lay there praying for anything and everything that came into my heart from the previous day and the day that would come, I would notice that this huge, bustling, chaotic city had gone silent.<\/span><\/p>\n Night time in the Colonial Section of Santo Domingo. (Photo by Tracy Jones)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I would awake to roosters crowing and street dogs barking more refreshed and rejuvenated than I can ever remember before or since. <\/span><\/p>\n It was as if I had slept in heavenly peace.<\/span><\/p>\n In the midst of the melee, in the middle of all this anarchy, there was peace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n There was<\/em> a time when the night was silent.<\/span><\/p>\n As I think about it today, I know the nay-sayers and critics who look for flaws wherever they can imagine them are mistaken.<\/span><\/p>\n The Lord Jesus can and does bring peace. All is indeed calm and all is bright in the dawn of His redeeming grace.<\/span><\/p>\n Let us take that assurance forward in our lives. Let us share that incredible peace, that joy, that love from that silent night, that holy night, to every heart that struggles in darkness and chaos. Let us take the message of Christmas past the hustle and bustle of all around us to all in so desperate need of relief from their striving.<\/span><\/p>\n And let it be to the praise of His glory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today’s Praise<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,\u00a0and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. Luke 2:17-18 (NIV)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n En Espanol:\u00a0\u00a0(Uso del Traductor de Google)<\/p>\n Para mucha gente, “Silent Night” es la canci\u00f3n de Navidad esencial. Es el que siempre cantamos en los servicios de la iglesia de Navidad y lo escuchas con frecuencia en Kinship Christian Radio.<\/p>\n Y bien deber\u00edamos. Es una hermosa canci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n Para muchas personas, la Navidad simplemente no ser\u00eda Navidad sin “Noche de paz”.<\/p>\n Pero hay quienes dicen que probablemente no sea correcto.<\/p>\n Ellos razonan que con la gran cantidad de personas que desembocan en Bel\u00e9n para ser contadas y gravadas en el momento del nacimiento de Jes\u00fas, la ciudad habr\u00eda estado llena de ruido y conmoci\u00f3n. De ninguna manera, dicen, Bel\u00e9n pudo haber estado en silencio la noche en que naci\u00f3 Jes\u00fas.<\/p>\n Mientras contemplaba esto despu\u00e9s de cantar “Noche de paz” en la iglesia en Nochebuena, mi mente regres\u00f3 a Santo Domingo en enero de 2015.<\/p>\n Santo Domingo es la capital de la Rep\u00fablica Dominicana. Es la ciudad m\u00e1s grande del Caribe y tiene una poblaci\u00f3n de cerca de un mill\u00f3n de personas. Si incluye todos sus suburbios, la poblaci\u00f3n es de tres millones.<\/p>\n Sus calles estrechas est\u00e1n llenas de autom\u00f3viles, motocicletas, autobuses, camiones, bicicletas, carros tirados por caballos y pr\u00e1cticamente todo tipo de transporte con ruedas conocido por el hombre. En la mayor\u00eda de la ciudad (fuera de las \u00e1reas frecuentadas por los turistas y los ricos) no hay luces de la calle, sin luces de stop, sin se\u00f1ales de paradas, sin se\u00f1ales de tr\u00e1fico, y ciertamente no hay se\u00f1ales de l\u00edmite de velocidad.<\/p>\n Est\u00e1 m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de un combate cuerpo a cuerpo. Incluso excede lo que la mayor\u00eda de nosotros describir\u00eda como “caos”. La mayor\u00eda de Santo Domingo es una anarqu\u00eda total del tr\u00e1fico.<\/p>\n Adem\u00e1s del ruido del tr\u00e1fico, los perros de la calle ladran, los gallos cantan de vez en cuando, constantemente sale m\u00fasica de alg\u00fan lado, y casi siempre se escuchan sirenas en la distancia.<\/p>\n Ahora, de alguna manera, los residentes lidian con esto. Esto es normal para ellos. Esto es con lo que crecieron.<\/p>\n Cuando estaba en Santo Domingo, tuve la suerte de ser un invitado en la casa de Pastora Secundino y Altagracia Ulloa. Yo y los miembros de mi equipo de misi\u00f3n vinimos a ayudar y bendecir a la gente de la Iglesia de Altar de Jehov\u00e1. (Iglesia del Altar de Dios.) Dorm\u00ed en un dormitorio en el s\u00f3tano sobre un colch\u00f3n de espuma de dos pulgadas de espesor rodeado por los bulliciosos, ruidosos y agitados sonidos de la vida en Santo Domingo.<\/p>\n Y, como cantamos “Noche de paz” en la v\u00edspera de Navidad de este a\u00f1o, record\u00e9 c\u00f3mo el Se\u00f1or me despertaba en medio de la noche en la habitaci\u00f3n del s\u00f3tano y me instaba a orar.<\/p>\n Como estaba all\u00ed rezando por cualquier cosa y todo lo que entraba en mi coraz\u00f3n desde el d\u00eda anterior y el d\u00eda que vendr\u00eda, me dar\u00eda cuenta de que esta ciudad enorme, bulliciosa y ca\u00f3tica se hab\u00eda quedado en silencio.<\/p>\n Noche en la Secci\u00f3n Colonial de Santo Domingo. (Foto por Tracy Jones)<\/p>\n Me despertaba al canto de los gallos y a los perros de la calle ladrando m\u00e1s refrescados y rejuvenecidos de lo que jam\u00e1s pueda recordar antes o despu\u00e9s.<\/p>\n Era como si hubiera dormido en paz celestial.<\/p>\n En medio de la mel\u00e9, en medio de toda esta anarqu\u00eda, hubo paz.<\/p>\n Hubo un tiempo cuando la noche estaba en silencio.<\/p>\n Mientras lo pienso hoy, s\u00e9 que los que no dicen y los cr\u00edticos que buscan defectos donde puedan imaginarlos est\u00e1n equivocados.<\/p>\n El Se\u00f1or Jes\u00fas puede traer la paz y lo hace. Todo est\u00e1 realmente en calma y todo es brillante en el amanecer de su gracia redentora.<\/p>\n Permitamos que esa seguridad avance en nuestras vidas. Compartamos esa paz incre\u00edble, esa alegr\u00eda, ese amor de esa noche silenciosa, esa noche santa, para cada coraz\u00f3n que lucha en la oscuridad y el caos. Llevemos el mensaje de la Navidad m\u00e1s all\u00e1 del ajetreo y el bullicio de todos los que nos rodean a todos en una necesidad tan desesperada de alivio de su esfuerzo.<\/p>\n Y que sea para la alabanza de su gloria.<\/p>\n Alabanza de hoy<\/p>\n Cuando lo vieron, divulgaron lo que se les hab\u00eda dicho acerca de este ni\u00f1o, y todos los que lo escucharon se sorprendieron de lo que los pastores les dec\u00edan. Lucas 2: 17-18 (NVI)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Dan Jones For a lot of people, “Silent Night” is the essential Christmas song. 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<\/p>\n