Do You Hear What I Hear?
By Dinah Dutta, Chaplain
We are almost at the end of the year 2021. December is a month with colorful celebrations. For people of Christian faith, it is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, Immanuel, God with us.
I love Christmas carols. I often hear people say it is too early when they hear carols, but I listen to them all year-round. I was pondering, what should I share with my PMMA family this special time of the year? The line, “Do you see what I see” started ringing in my ears. It’s from “Do You Hear What I Hear,” a relatively new Christmas hymn, written in 1962 by Noël Regney with music by Gloria Shayne. The word “see” caught my attention as I started singing. There are two words in the Greek language for see. The first word is the word, blepo: I see you. I see the manger scene. I see the Christmas tree. I see the lights. I see. I see. I see. The second word for “see” in Greek is horao. Horao means to see deeply. It is not sight, but insight.
We have been seeing and hearing confusing, false information about anything and everything for a long time, haven’t we? I want to invite you to join me in singing this beautiful song, and to see and feel the beauty of the world we live in with all its imperfections, chaos, and much more. I want us to embrace the beauty and the sounds of the Christmas season. Let us pray for peace, trusting God will continue to bring goodness and light in our lives and into the world we live.
Do you see what I see?
Said the night wind to the little lamb,
do you see what I see; Way up in the sky, little lamb,
do you see what I see; A star, a star, dancing in the night
With a tail as big as a kite
With a tail as big as a kite
Do you see what I see?
Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear; Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy,
do you hear what I hear; A song, a song, high above the trees
With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea
Do you see what I see?
Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
do you know what I know; In your palace warm, mighty king,
do you know what I know; A Child, a Child shivers in the cold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Let us bring Him silver and gold
Do you see what I see?
Said the king to the people everywhere,
listen to what I say; pray for peace, people everywhere!
Listen to what I say; The Child, the Child, sleeping in the night
He will bring us goodness and light
He will bring us goodness and light
“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people’” (Luke 10:2). Merry Christmas!
