Rector’s Ramblings – December 12, 2024

Last weekend I had the opportunity to attend Sewanee’s service of Lessons and Carols remotely via livestream. I have not attended that service in any form for twenty years, and I forgot how beautiful it is. In that space, with that choir, it’s simply an experience unlike anything else I’ve had in the time since – although other services of Lessons and Carols are certainly beautiful in their own right. The impetus for this tune-in was Eva’s role as a member of the Sewanee choir, as she wanted to continue using her gifts of music in college, but not by playing her saxophone. Donna got to be there in person, and I settled for livestream with the audio streaming through my surround sound system at home. It was glorious from afar, and I know in person would have been even more so.

Our Lessons and Carols service this weekend will be glorious, too. Jim Broussard has been working with the choir and has arranged for a string quartet to accompany them. The service will be held Sunday evening at 7 pm in our Parish Hall, a space that has exquisite acoustics for music. It will be lovely, and I hope many of you will be able to join us. It’s also a great event to bring friends and neighbors to, by the way.

We have had our own version of Lessons and Carols in recent years, with only some of the traditional readings. We have also included children’s bible versions of some of the stories with, ahem, “dramatic” readings of those stories by staff members. We have loved that, too, and it allowed more people to participate in a version of Lessons and Carols, but I’m really pleased to be moving back to a standalone service. There is just something powerful in this service, in a similar way to the Easter Vigil, when the first part of that service tells the story of God’s saving acts throughout history leading up to the ultimate act of creation played out in Christ’s resurrection.

Lessons and Carols tells a hopeful story of God’s promises to be in and with the world, again spanning a long period of time in the history of the faith. Those promises found fulfillment in the arrival of the Christ child on that first Christmas. The Incarnation is both a moment in time, but also the beginning of a new reality that is ongoing. God is still present and our relationship to God has and is strengthened by God’s experience on the inside of humanity itself, no longer limited by “only” being the Creator. The Feast of Christmas shortens the distance between us to zero, and we find new and enriched life as a result.

We can talk about the theology of the Incarnation all day long, but it is through story that we engage it best. It is in listening the stories of those who have come before us, the prophecies of God’s promised salvation, and the hope that has motivated the faithful right on through to today. We find commonality with their human experience despite the immense gap in our historical experience. As we continue to prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ, and to remind ourselves that he has already arrived, Lessons and Carols gives us the narrative through word and music to connect the longing of God’s people to our longing; the hope of others, to our hope; the promises to our faith itself.

If you can come on Sunday, I encourage you to do so. These are realities and stories worth revisiting and retelling. I know you will find that it touches your heart and inspires you. It certainly does for me.

Tom+

Loving God, you are our peace;
prepare our hearts for your coming.
Forge the swords of bitterness into plows of blessing;
till the soil of our souls for your springing forth in us.
Remove our heart’s defensive armor,
clothe us in light alone,
and pierce our wide-open hearts with your love.
By your Spirit in us, may we be at peace:
awake, and ready to welcome your presence.
Amen.

Steve Garnaas-Holmes