Holy

Holy

Holy So many Christmases we stand in church and sing a hymn of old: Holy. Holy. Holy. It’s not a Christmas Carol, so to speak. But it tells the story of the season in traditional rhyme, beat and meaning.

by Elisa Morgan A GIFT FROM FULLFILL.ORG

I love the harmony. Rich baritone. Brave soprano and tenor. Edgy alto.

I love the words. Complicated, fancy God-words that beckon me up to a world that’s better.

But perhaps best of all, I love what happens in my heart when these words are sung repetitively.

They take on a trinity of meanings that weave the Christmas story through my soul.

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First of course, is holy. Holy. Pure. God-like.

Perfect. Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Truly he is. I think of how “other than me” he is. Beyond me. Better than me.

And then I think of the verse in the Bible in Matthew 5:48 where God’s holy Son, Jesus, challenges us to “Be holy as your heavenly father is holy.” Me? Impossible.

Until I realize — timidly at first and then bolting headlong into the fact — that because the Father God gave his “only begotten son” — as a baby born in a manger who grew to a man who died on the cross for the sins of all humankind — people like you and me have a decent shot at drawing near to this holiness.

In our every day lives and in the hereafter.

Second comes the polar opposite of holy – holey. Holey. And once again, here’s me. Holey Holey Holey am I. A mom with Swiss Cheese Holes of impatience and selfishness. A wife with punctured imperfections. A leader whose cracks reveal more than my best offering.

Yet my holeyness can provide a place for God’s healing power to work. A canvas where he paints new chances every morning. A mosaic of fragmented pieces that form a work of beauty.

An example where others find room for their less-than-bestness to still matter.

Third comes a concept that completes the circle of holy — wholly. Wholly. God’s holiness plus my holeyness totals a wholly work. Complete.

Healed. Better than before. Made right.

Redeemed. Whole. Wholly Wholly Wholly is God’s work in his people and in his world.

His holiness plus my holeyness yield a whollyness that shapes and changes my life, my family, my marriage, my world.

Holy. Holey. Wholly! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to you.

Holy. Holey. Wholly! Merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons. Blessed Trinity.

Have a holy, holey, wholly Christmas.