Question of the Day - 25 December 2020

Of all years, this year is a time to cherish the Christmas spirit -- with those closest to us physically and those close in our hearts, if not our proximity. 

With that in mind, here's part of a Christmas poem by Paul Laurence Dunbar, born in 1872 to freed slaves. He became one of the first influential black poets in American literature, but was also a prolific writer of novels, short stories, and essays.

To us, these three verses from his poem, "Christmas Carol," note that no matter how bleak the world might be, the darkness always lightens, the dawn ushers in a new day, and the rocks and stones themselves celebrate in song. If we're sensitive and receptive enough,  not only can we hear them, but we can join them. 

The darkness breaks
And Dawn awakes,
Her cheeks suffused with youthful blushes.
The rocks and stones
In holy tones
Are singing sweeter than the thrushes.

Then why should we
In silence be,
When Nature lends her voice to praises;
When heaven and earth
Proclaim the truth
Of Him for whom that lone star blazes?

No, be not still,
But with a will
Strike all your harps and set them ringing;
On hill and heath
Let every breath
Throw all its power into singing!