Filled with Hope and Gratitude (ACS 907)
1 Filled with hope and gratitude and filled with very God,
I sing with soul and spirit exultation,
for God has smiled upon the humble
servant who will give
her own sweet milk to Christ, the world’s salvation.
2 God’s eternal mercy, meant for all of humankind,
is given as deliv’rance from oppression.
The powerful and haughty find that
they are now cast down,
the lowly raised beyond this world’s derision.
3 Hungry people eat good things and find an honored place;
the rich are sent away though they are hungry.
The promise to our forebears
God renews for us today:
the world is filled with God’s abundant mercy.
4 Filled with hope and gratitude and filled with very God,
I sing with soul and spirit exultation,
for God has smiled upon the humble
servant who will give
her own sweet milk to Christ, the world’s salvation.
Text: Paul Damico-Carper, b. 1981, based on Luke 1:46–55
Text © 2013 Augsburg Fortress
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
“But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19).
As she went on through the daily grind of life in the northern hill country of Nazareth, Mary must at times have looked and remembered those events of Christmas as if, perhaps, they were some sort of dream. Raising children, feeding the family, trying to keep everyone healthy was a job that took all her energy and then some. Yet those events could not be ignored, and in the middle of performing the humble drudgery of her life, they filled her with hope and gratitude to keep her going. Christmas will soon be over, and we will return to our ordinary lives. But the glory of God’s love in Christmas can lighten our lives all year long.
Prayer
God of love, kindle your presence in our lives and in our world, not just this special day, but in every day of our lives. Amen.