Hope this Christmas - Chris Lee

Hope is a difficult concept to describe to someone because it is a bit difficult for most of us to fully discern. I would describe hope like a time where one has an intense thirst, but they know for certain that they will soon be thirsty no more. It’s a longing or yearning for something or someone that you know for certain will be met.

As I have been reflecting on my hope during Advent and Christmas, there is one thing that keeps coming to mind over and over. It is a song that I sang many years as a child in the church that I grew up in called “I Saw Three Ships.” When I sing this song or read these lyrics I still feel this great, hopeful joy rise up in me. As we sing, “I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas day, on Christmas day. I saw three ships come sailing in on Christmas day in the morning,” I have this eagerness as I hope to find out what is on those three ships…I GOTTA KNOW!!!

I saw three ships - Walter Crane (circa 1900)

I find out that it is Jesus and his mother Mary arriving on this fleet. As I continue singing, I realize that I am in Bethlehem watching the ships come in, and then once they arrive I, with all of heaven and earth, with the angels above and the throngs below, celebrate with singing and with instruments. We rejoice because the Savior of the world has come.

Now, we know from scripture that Jesus did not arrive in Bethlehem by ship, and even if he had traveled as an infant by ship to some place, it would never have been seen from landlocked Bethlehem (around 15 miles from the Dead Sea and around 40 miles from the Mediterranean Sea). But those things are not important to the song. What stands out is the excitement and the hope of the coming of the Christ child: this baby that would make everything right. And as we sing the song, may joy and hope flood your soul as you too can see, not too far in the distance, the coming of this child: the one who will reconcile you and all of creation to God.

Click here and listen to this shorter version that I grew up listening to. I hope you enjoy, and may this song give you hope this Advent season as you celebrate the coming of the
Savior of the world!

Chris Lee