It is this time of the year that Christmas songs and hymns are being played over the airwaves. One of the most popular Christmas hymn is Silent Night. Listening or singing the song helps our spirit to be calm and reflective. It helps us to meditate on the scene of Christ’s birth, and to forget the busyness and fast-paced worries of the world.

The need to slow down — to find the time and space to reflect — is nothing new, of course. But the practice is so often difficult.

Consider the facts:

• The average adult spends at least eight and a half hours a day in front of a screen,

• The average teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day

• We are bombarded with so much news, entertainment channels and streaming videos.

• There is more information and data out there than we can handle. Of late, there have been more breaking news on the threat of terrorism, and the fear it instills in so many of us.

It is time like this that the song, Silent Night, becomes more meaningful and relevant to us as individuals. That deep within us, there is a longing for calm and peace in a world full of confusion, complexity and turmoil.

There is a story of a momentary peace and truce in the midst of war in this clip from the

film “Oh! What A Lovely War” and accompanied by the music Stille Nacht - Silent Night”

Hope the song, Silent Night, inspires you this Christmas. Merry Christmas.