The Christmas season has many wonderful, traditional songs. Yet, every now and then, there is a new song that touches the heart deeply. My favorite ”new” Christmas song is Night of Silence, available in David Haas’ Christmas/Advent CD, Star Child
Written by Daniel Kantor, the song was inspired ”by the northwoods of Wisconsin and the sparkle of freshly fallen snow in the moonlight of a sub-zero winter’s night.” The song is often sung in Catholic parishes during Advent. It flows beautifully into Silent Night, with one verse from each song overlapping.
Night of Silence is truly an Advent song. What makes it so special is that it movingly describes the almost overwhelming darkness that exists before the dawn. In this case, the song describes the darkness in life just before Christ’s light breaks into our world on Christmas morning. Often Christmas songs focus on the birth of Jesus and what happens afterwards. But Night of Silence is dedicated to reminding us what it was like just before the dawn, just before Christmas morning.
Few of us have lived life without experiencing moments of such terrible darkness when one truly doubts if dawn will ever come. Whether it be the death of a loved one, a chronic illness or injury, the loss of a job, or the shattering of a dream, only hope – a hope borne of faith – can carry us through this darkness into the light. As Kantor’s first verse describes, “Cold are the people, Winter of life, We tremble in shadows this cold endless night, Frozen in the snow lie roses sleeping, Flowers that will echo the sunrise, Fire of hope is our only warmth, Weary, its flame will be dying soon.”
And so it is with Advent, a season that reminds us that despite the shortening days, despite the pervasive cold, despite the enveloping snow that blankets everything around us, dawn will come. Light will break into the blackness of hearts. Depite the darkness in our lives, the pain or sorrow, the longings or fears, “soon will we know of the morning.”
