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4 DECEMBER THE POSTURE OF ADVENT Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices; O night divine O night when Christ was born. O night divine O night, O night divine. Psalm 29 O Holy Night is easily one of my favorite Christmas hymns. I tend to be drawn to songs that are par ticularly suitable to the Advent "feel": heavy use of minor chords, a tangible sense of longing, and dripping with rich meaning. This one fits the bill. What struck me about the words guiding this reflection—"fall on your knees"—is how unfamiliar this admonition feels when we consider what "Christmas" seems to mean in our society. Christmas often becomes a time filled with frenetic activity, overload, and stress: list- making, filling shopping car ts, overstuffed post offices, disgruntled drivers, and the fulfillment of family obligations. Even on the positive side, we can get distracted by things that are otherwise good—gatherings with family and friends that bring appropriate delight may turn to mere "festivity" with no focus on the true joy come into the world. Enjoyment for its own sake becomes the focus. We lose sight of Whom we ought to enjoy. "Fall on your knees." These words call us to selfless, humble, abandoned worship. Most of us are unfamiliar with taking a kneeling posture. We might do it to accomplish some practical means, like scrubbing a stubborn spot on the floor, but rarely do we do it out of sheer adoration and love for our Savior. Oh, brothers and sisters, how often we fail to give God His due. How often we make much of ourselves—yet fail to make much of Him. What we do with our time, our talents, our treasure—and even our posture—shows what we value. What is our posture this Advent? Matthew 2 describes the response of the wise men to the babe in the straw: "they saw the child with Mar y his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him" (2:11). These men knew the proper response—posture and all. What is our response to the King of Kings this Advent? Psalm 29:2 calls us to "Ascribe to the Lord the glor y due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness." Will we take the humble posture of kneeling this season? Let us fall on our knees before Him, worshiping the only King, the only Lord. He alone is wor thy. Jessica J. Schroeder, MA, Alumna O Holy Night Lyrics by Placide Cappeau (1843), composed by Adolphe Adam (1847)