The Promise of Light Devotions for and

The Year of Our Lord, 2020

Athens, Georgia Greetings!

May Presbyterians be renewed and revived in singing their faith . . .

This statement is from a preface in a Presbyterian Hymnal (mine was published in 1990) but most would agree it applies to all believers in Christ.

Dr. John Coble, our Director of Music and Organist, has provided leadership in our further study and appreciation of sacred music, in this devotional and always. His love of music, his knowledge of every aspect, and his ability to inspire us to learn more is evident.

Sacred music endures because it is beautiful and stirs emotion. Perhaps it can be explained by Divine Intervention that comes from deep faith, or deep longing for faith, or seeking light in darkness? Or is it that difficult times take us “back to basics?”

Do these hymns and carols mean so much to us because of the comfort that comes from familiarity, or the peace that we crave through tradition, or do we need another to give us a way to praise, or will an unfamiliar piece spark energy or some emotion in us when we feel numb from just trying to function every day? These are questions worth asking, but the answers are in the music. The light is in the music.

These devotions are not just meditations on preparation as are most devotions for Advent, which is the reason we chose to extend our devotional. Advent leads to Christmas which leads to , which is when God revealed His love and His Son and His plan to all people, beyond the people of Israel.

The Magi were not Jewish, yet they saw the star and knew the prophecy from considerable distance and traveled far at great risk and with their best gifts, then returned to their homelands to share what they learned to be true: God’s love and salvation are for all people, and the promise is being fulfilled, through Jesus’ birth - light, light, and more light. As they traveled, I am sure they sang.

Is the image of light in your heart mostly about the Star of , or is it understanding Jesus as our guiding light? Carry these thoughts beyond Christmas Day, and beyond Epiphany on January 6th. Maybe you do already, but I woefully have not always done this as I should.

Our friends opened their hearts to share personal stories based on hymns and carols. Dr. John Coble has selected recordings he knew would enrich our experience each day. May they help you feel renewed and revived in singing your faith, and see light everywhere, now and always.

Jennifer Nickles Poole, Devotional Coordinator

Links to Music

Comfort, Comfort You My People O Come, O Come, Emmanuel (St. Olaf College) (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbk1eagEjOw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqkUPUSY8ds

From Heaven Above O, Holy Night (Universitätschor Müchen) (Nat King Cole) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqMRqf8gD9U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-QcYDP7SDU

Gabriel's Message/The Angel On Christmas Night, All Christians Sing/Sussex Carol (King’s College Cambridge) (King’s College, Cambridge) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pliqObTHxUQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWICUo65wW4

Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen) Once in Royal David’s City (Jeff Buckley) (King’s College, Cambridge) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I4X1FcUhDU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT3cfXd3Shk

In the Bleak Midwinter People Look East (Quire Cleveland) (Houston Chamber Choir) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE0aIQp9V4s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3B1is7ddw

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly Rejoice, Rejoice Believers (St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue New York) (Basilica of the Sacred Heart, University of Notre https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKGxEp3olvE Dame) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BjRuOHnh8E It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) Savior of the Nations Come https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m71c9p9a1dA (English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zmg-5cnqUi4 Joy to the World (First Plymouth Church Lincoln, NE) Silent Night https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtVikpuMy6I (Winchester Cathedral Choir) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRZOv31n1sY Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy3gP5yDc3o Still, Still, Still (The Salt Lake Children’s Choir) Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adsFd-QWQPM (The Cathedral Singers) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_RRlNtAlKg The First Noel (King’s College, Cambridge) My Soul Gives Glory to My God https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt1m7sPaRuA (St. John’s United Methodist Church, Lubbock, TX) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ESWjFOftXQ The Shepherd's Farewell (King’s College Cambridge) O Come, All Ye Faithful https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_pyk3wmHGw (The Chieftains) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJSMr239C1c The Three Kings (Classic Tales of Christmas) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf_sGnimB5A

Sunday, November 29, 2020 The First Sunday of Advent

Advent Reading: Hope

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7:

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. […]

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

“The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Monday, November 30, 2020

Savior of the Nations Come ttr: Ambrose of Milan, 4th Century Para: Martin Luther, 1524 Trans: William Morton Reynold, 1850 Music: Eyn Enchiridion, Erfurt, 1524, based on plainsong melody

/Savior of the nations, come,/ /Virgin's Son, make here Your home./ /Marvel now, O heaven and earth,/ /That the Lord chose such a birth./

I'll be honest; this isn't my "favorite" Advent hymn. You won't hear it on the 24-hour holiday music stations on your FM dial. But this year of all years, this text and tune speak to me in a profound way.

Never in my 42 years has an event impacted the entire globe like the COVID- 19 pandemic. This text, written by Ambrose of Milan in the 4th century, reminds us that Jesus is the savior of the nations. For more than 1500 years, Christians have been singing this text.

This year, more than ever, I am mindful that the church of Jesus Christ is not bound by time or space, and we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses as we watch and wait in this holy season!

Ryan Baer Senior Pastor Tuesday, December 1, 2020 O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Latin. c. 12th century Adapt. Thomas Helmore, 1824

“O Come, Thou Dayspring come and cheer Our spirits by Thine advent here; Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, And death’s dark shadows put to flight. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”

A few months ago, we were traveling on the top deck of a ferry and our son was extra wiggly. I told him he had to stay seated, because if he fell overboard, we might not be able to find him, and we would be heartbroken. It was overkill. That tender-hearted boy with his concrete thinking burst into tears, imagining that our hearts could literally break, like toys. I explained the abstract concept with examples of when our hearts had been broken. It is painful to confess all your cumulative heartbreaks, repeatedly, until a toddler gets it. I tried to soften the tales of woe by also sharing how God had moved, often through others, to heal our hearts. This pandemic election year of 2020 has been particularly heartbreaking for all of us, I think, in a myriad of ways, both personal and shared. We have accumulated so much grief. Too much to recount, really. Sickness. Death. Loss. Isolation. Economic upheaval. Cancelled plans. Discord. Strife. Disappointment. When we are in the pit of despair, heartbroken and heavy laden, there are few things that we can offer that are more comforting than the word Emmanuel, the reminder that God is with us, in our grief and heartbreak. God, who had already come to us in many ways over many years, knew that we needed more, a fully accessible manifestation of God. So, in the baby Jesus of Nazareth, at Christmas, God became incarnate, enfleshed, to be with us, truly, feeling all of what we humans feel, from jubilation to heartbreak. When our hearts break for ourselves and others, we offer prayers of intercession, asking that God move in particular ways. But we can’t honestly make promises for any specific outcomes. We can, however, promise one true thing, reassured to us in this 12th century monastic hymn – that God is with us. In the manger. By the waters. At the table. At the well. In the upper room. In the garden. On the cross. On the mourning bench. On the beach. In a crowd, and in the quiet, when we are alone. In the hospital. In diagnoses. In decline. In quarantine. In lonely exile. On Zoom and Facebook and YouTube. In messages of care received and sent. In the holy community. In the church. In the world. Always. God has been there. God is with us still, filling the world with heaven’s peace. In Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God walks beside us. We are never alone. Emmanuel helps us to bear our heartbreak and shines forth a light of hope, powerful enough to cast out the darkness. (Jn 1:5) Take heart and rejoice, for Emmanuel comes!

Reverend Margaret Davis Parish Associate Wednesday, December 2, 2020 People Look East - 1 People, look east. The time is near Of the crowning of the year. Eleanor Farjeon Make your house fair as you are able, (1881-1965) Trim the hearth and set the table. French Folk Melody People, look east and sing today: Oxford Book of Carols, 1964 Love the guest is on the way.

“People Look East” (Hymn #12 in our Presbyterian Hymnal) was penned by Eleanor Farjeon, who also wrote the words to “Morning Is Broken.” It’s really a carol, that is, a popular, peppy folk melody, suitable for circle dancing. Like many folk melodies, there is a refrain. This refrain is the same every time except for one word change. The key word in the refrain is Love – “Love ... is on the way.” In your mind, you may substitute the word Christ for Love. It is an Advent carol, and we are singing about the coming of Christ into the world.

Each verse plays with a different image or metaphor for Christ. In the first stanza the metaphor for Christ is that of guest. “Love the guest is on the way.” The prologue of the Gospel of John speaks of the welcome of Jesus into the world, at least by some

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and lived among us. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. (John 1:1, 14a, 11, 12)

God as guest is a theme that crops up in Scripture. Three strange men made a visit to Abraham and Sarah to deliver a message. The elderly couple rolled out the red carpet for them. As it turned out the visitors were God in the guise of guests. A similar tale is told by Luke. On Easter afternoon two disciples returning to their town of Emmaus were joined on their walk by a stranger. They invited him to dinner. During the meal, as he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them, they realized their guest was none other than the risen Jesus himself.

We never know. We may entertain angels “unawares” - divine messengers, Christ himself. During Advent as we have neighbors over for a socially distanced cup of eggnog or invite a guest to go with us to an outdoor holiday event, we, in some sense, are welcoming God into our lives. In the parable of the sheep and the goats, Jesus said that whenever we welcome a stranger, showing hospitality especially to the least person, we are welcoming him. Prepare Him room. Love the guest is on the way.

Prayer: There was no room at the inn for the Christ child. Help me, O God, be hospitable to strangers and open to those who are different, that I may meet you in our encounter. Amen.

Carol M. Strickland, Associate Pastor Thursday, December 3, 2020 Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence

From Liturgy of St. James, 4th century French Carol

I know I am not alone in finding Christmas a confusing combination of joy and melancholy. Bicycles and stuffed Snoopy dogs, and child-size umbrellas printed with a beautiful purple and red mosaic pattern are just a few of the happy images imprinted on my mind when I would rapidly turn the living room light on and off – just enough to get a glimpse of the wonders “” had brought.

But the memories of accidentally crushing delicate ornaments while decorating the tree, a sister crying when she burned her hand checking whether the hot plate for cooking plastic “Creepy Crawlers” was hot enough, and the silence of parents trying to hide their dissolving marriage are just as present.

For years, I told people I did not like Christmas. That I was a “.” But that’s not true. I love the wonder and beauty and love what is captured during this glorious time of the year, but I also can’t ignore the sorrow and darkness.

For all of these reasons, I’m attracted to the hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent,” whose words apparently date back to ancient Greece and whose tune is apparently a French medieval folk melody.

Both the words and the tune capture the awesomeness of Christmas:

“Let all mortal flesh keep silence, And with fear and trembling stand; Ponder nothing earthly-minded, For with blessing in His hand, Christ our God to earth descendeth, Our full homage to demand.”

Denise Horton Friday, December 4, 2020

The Angel Gabriel From Heaven Came Basque Carol (Gabriel’s Message) Para. Sabine Baring-Gould

Angels have been interpreted in art and music and literature in so many ways. We sing of hosts of them in the skies, consider that when we are being kind to strangers, we may be entertaining angels ``unaware,” marvel at cherubs adorning ceilings, and look lovingly at ornaments. But truthfully, until recently, I never thought much about angels.

When the Bible tells me that God sent an angel to deliver a message, usually the first part of the message was “Do not be afraid.” This leads me to believe angels are fearsome creatures to behold. Heavenly, strong, swift, and beautiful beyond imagination is how I think of the angel Gabriel. He is a terrifying sight that is almost blinding, yet he projects God’s power in a way that makes one feel awe and feel safe at the same time.

When I heard Sting’s interpretation of Gabriel’s Message, I really listened to this hymn for the first time. It was so powerful. The music took me to a place where I could imagine a dark bedroom suddenly full of light, giant white wings flapping in a flurry of fire and ice and snow, feathers flying around in a fevered frenzy, two orange flames like eyes requiring focus, and a voice that is commanding. Then, Gabriel settles and speaks, and Mary says, “To me be as it pleases God.” There is no panic, no hysterics and no resistance.

Her next words are “My soul shall laud and magnify God’s holy name.”

Then Gabriel leaves her. Even with his message of how her efforts would bring Emmanuel, she must have been terrified, but she did not show it.

I know having faith does not mean we don’t get scared. I find praising God’s holy name is difficult when I am overwhelmed and afraid. But this hymn reminds me that those are the times when I should do exactly that. My human nature wants to beg and plead in prayer for the pain to stop or the problem to go away, so I will need more practice.

Yes, I will laud and magnify God’s holy name when life is the most difficult, have even more gratitude for a most highly favored and brave lady, and remember the world changed when Christ was born, as was foretold, as promised. Gloria!

Jennifer Nickles Poole Saturday, December 5, 2020

Silent Night Sleep in heavenly peace STILLE NACHT Dorme em paz, ó Jesus Joseph Mohr, 1818 (Sleep in peace, O Jesus) Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818

When I was ten, my dad bought a CD that had only instrumental Christmas songs. From “Jingle Bells” to “Happy Christmas (War Is Over)” and ending with “Silent Night,” we would listen to one hour of music that would put us in the “Christmas mood” while we thought about the list of cards to send to friends and family, planned the feast on , and decided what we would like to receive as a . Over the years, that CD was played over and over through December, and I confess that at some point my younger brother and I were making plans to “make it disappear” because we couldn’t stand to listen to it anymore.

In 2018, I joined some friends in an English class in a church in Athens where English is taught as a second language to people from all over the world. It was the last day of class in the semester, which means that we would be having a potluck to celebrate the year that was ending. As part of the cultural lesson, the instructors told us about Christmas in the US, and together we would sing “Silent Night.” To my surprise, after receiving the sheet with the lyrics in English, we were asked to sing it in our first language. To me, “Silent Night” is known as “Noite Feliz” (“Happy Night” in Portuguese), with lyrics slightly different from the English version.

That was such a happy, powerful, and memorable experience. As we sang in many different languages, I fondly thought of the happy nights I had with my family back home, especially during Christmas time. I thanked the Lord for my life, for the challenges and the blessings, and, for a brief moment, I wished I could hear again that CD that I haven’t heard in-person in almost six years.

Lord, thank you for my life. Thank you for my family and friends. Thank you for giving us strength to face challenges, and for all the blessings you have given us this year. Amen.

Paulo Santos Communications Specialist & Website Sunday, December 6, 2020 The Second Sunday in Advent

Advent Reading: Preparation

Isaiah 40:3-5

“A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all people will see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’”

Monday, December 7, 2020

Lyricist: Placide Cappeau; O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining Musical Composer, Adolphe It is the night of our dear Savior's birth Charles Adam Long lay the world in sin and error pining 'Til He appears and the soul felt its worth A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn Fall on your knees; O hear the Angel voices! O night divine, O night when Christ was born O night, O Holy night, O night divine!

Christmas Carols, both religious and secular, have featured prominently in the itinerary of holiday festivities and traditions, especially within the Christian family. Upon receiving the Advent devotional theme for this year, a lifetime of memories with treasured Christmas carols surfaced!

However, one particular carol, O Holy Night, emerged victorious as it has always evoked a profound sense of gratitude in me. The words capture the fundamental attribute of the birth of Jesus on humanity and the music tends to ease all anxieties and frustrations.

According to history, this classic carol has its origin as a festive poem, written in French by Placide Cappeau in 1847, who, ironically, was not enthusiastic about religion. It was put to music by his friend, Adolphe Charles Adam, and eventually translated into English by John Sullivan Dwight in 1855.

Several musical icons, including Celine Deon, Kelly Clarkson, and Nat King Cole, have shown tremendous appreciation for this incredible masterpiece. I have to set the record straight: Nat King Cole is no direct kinship of mine even though he shares the same name with my father and my older brother.

1 Corinthians 13: 13, which is one of my most cherished Bible verses, reads, “That these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love.” Is it an instrument of Divine providence or sheer coincidence that my favorite and my favorite Bible verse should both echo the same sentiments of Faith, Hope and Love?” I am left with more questions than answers!

As we are led by the light of faith during this unprecedented Christmas season, let us all embrace the thrill of hope as we do what Jesus taught us: to love one another; today, tomorrow, and always! Merry Christmas!

David A. Cole Tuesday, December 8, 2020

People Look East - 2 Furrows, be glad. Though earth is bare, One more seed is planted there: Give up your strength the seed to nourish, Eleanor Farjeon That in course the flower may (1881-1965) flourish.People, look east and sing today: French Folk Melody Oxford Book of Carols, 1964 Love the rose is on the way.

In the second stanza of “People, Look East, we sing” Love the rose is on the way.”

Consider these two texts from the prophet Isaiah which have long been read as messianic, that is, looking forward to the coming of Christ, God’s anointed. The first uses the image of a new sprig of growth on the old, thought-to-be-dead stump of Jesse, which refers to the royal Davidic line. The second pictures a desert blooming:

A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. The wilderness and dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus [or “rose” [as the King James Version translates it] it shall blossom abundantly. (Isaiah 11:1, 35:1-2a)

The second stanza of this carol employs agricultural and botanical imagery. Furrows are addressed and told to be happy because though they are bare now, they are about to receive and nurture a seed. The miracle of plant growth is a wonderful image for so much of God’s activity in the world. You look around and nothing seems to be happening. Nothing looks promising. A patch of dirt and a small, hard brown seed–who could ever predict that such unpromising things would yield green stems shooting up, festooned with tender leaves and gorgeous blooms? Israel despaired; yet God sent Christ, the messiah, just as God is still bringing newness in barren places.

I have a watercolor of red camellias hanging in my office. I surprised myself when I painted it because the colors are much bolder than my usual timid, washed-out palette. It symbolizes to me a point in my life when the tables turned from my feeling sad and discouraged in the wake of a divorce to my being open to joy and new growth which God was at work bringing about.

Nurture the seeds of growth you see in your life. Love the rose is on the way.

Prayer: Gracious God, amid a global pandemic, natural disasters, social chaos, and political wrangling, help us hope. Show us where you are at work and how we can participate in it. Amen

Carol M. Strickland Associate Pastor Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Song of Mary Magnificat Morning SONG Para. Miriam Therese Winter, 1987 Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, 1813

Praise God whose loving covenant Supports those in distress, remembering past promises with present faithfulness.

The season of Advent is always a period of anticipation. We wait – sometimes impatiently – for the great gift we know is coming. We hope, pray, dream of the glory that Christmas represents. Here in 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve already had our fair share of waiting for salvation. Many of us try to serve our communities at this special time of year, but we have been given an unusual duty this year: to serve our communities by limiting our contact with them. In Luke’s gospel, Mary embraces the gravity of her own unusual situation while visiting her relative Elizabeth, who is pregnant with her own child, John the Baptist. Mary was in an impossible position, tasked with the greatest duty of her life. It was her responsibility to carry the Messiah and to do her part in bringing about our salvation. Instead of bemoaning the difficulty of her situation, she sings praises to God and rejoices in the opportunity to serve. She knows that she has been given an opportunity to do something great and that, despite the scrutiny and pain of the present, she will be praised for her contribution in generations to come. Unlike Mary, we should not seek the comfort and counsel in the homes of distant relatives this year. Like Mary, we each have our individual role in bringing our communities closer to peace and freedom. This year has been full of distress, but we must remember our faith in God and wait just a little bit longer. Mary Winn Granum Thursday, December 10, 2020

Hallelujah “And it's not a cry that you hear at night Leonard Cohen, 1983 It's not somebody who's seen the light It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah” The twinkling lights, cheerful carols, and giggles of a fat man in a red coat are what come to mind when we think of the holiday season. Christmas is a time of joy and hope and family. It is a time of children playing and sisters hugging. The truth, however, is that the Advent season can be a time of mourning for some. It can be a remembrance of death. It can be a flashback of abuse. It can be a vision of no presents under the tree. Even though some of us are privileged and beyond blessed, it is important to remember that Christmas is not glitz and happiness for everyone.

While this song has been interpreted to mean many things: a salacious anthem, an ode to true love lost, I’ve always listened to it as a broken song of faith found. God is a funny guy. He finds us in the darkest places and makes his way through the shattered cracks of our souls. He is there when I scream and yell and cry at my kids. He is there when I have a fight with my husband. He is there when I bare my heart to my therapist, telling her things that I buried deep within myself. He is there. He is always there.

It may be a cold and broken Hallelujah, but it’s a Hallelujah. It’s the recognition that God hasn’t left. That even crying on a freezing bathroom floor, he’s still with you. Even weeping over a bank account with a number that won’t pay this month’s rent, he’s still with you. It’s the knowledge that whatever you do, whatever horrible things you’ve done, he won’t ever leave.

It is a Hallelujah that we’ve lived another day. It is a Hallelujah that no one got in trouble at school today. It is a Hallelujah that the water wasn’t cut off or that you made it through work without crying or that you can finally look at that picture and not breakdown. It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah.

It is the knowledge that, even amongst pain and anger, He is giving us the greatest gift of all: A child that will grow to save us from ourselves. It is the knowledge that our God has sent us a Redeemer, someone to give us the love that we may never have had. It is the knowledge that no matter how cold and broken you are, the light of Christ will shine through always. Hallelujah.

Courtney Pittman

Friday, December 11, 2020 People Look East - 3 Birds, though you long have ceased to Eleanor Farjeon build, (1881-1965) Guard the nest that must be filled. French Folk Melody Even the hour when wings are frozen Oxford Book of Carols, 1964 God for fledgling time has chosen. People, look east and sing today: Love the bird is on the way.

In the third stanza of “People, Look East, ”Love the bird is on the way,” consider this passage from Matthew where Jesus compares himself to very familiar bird:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37)

In this third stanza of this carol, the metaphor for Christ is a bird. In addition to Jesus’ own picture of himself as a mother hen, we can find in Deuteronomy a striking image of God as an eagle stirring up its nest and hovering over its young, spreading its wings and taking its fledglings aloft. (Deut. 32:11). Two different birds became symbols for Christ in Christian art. One was the peacock, because peacocks shed their feathers and grow new, even more beautiful ones. This reminded people of resurrection. The other bird that came to symbolize Christ is the pelican, because the mother pelican was believed to peck flesh from her own breast to feed her young. This reminded people of Jesus’ giving his body and blood to feed us at the Lord’s Supper.

The bird may work as a symbol for Christ in other ways. Birds fly. They are free. They are not earthbound. They also do not worry and innately trust in God’s provision. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, told his disciples to look at the birds of the air. “They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them.” (Matt. 6:26)

In the carol, this bird imagery expresses the Advent expectation of new life similarly to the previous stanza. In the second stanza, the seed was anticipated to sprout despite the unpromising looking conditions. Likewise, in this stanza birds are told to guard their nests and get ready for fledglings despite the fact that nest-building time is long gone, and cold weather is upon them. God in Christ is always up to new life, and it comes at times when God chooses and when we least expect it. Stay alert and guard the nest. Love the bird is on the way.

Glen Doak’s prayer: Startle us, O Lord, with the wild improbability of what we say we believe and with the beauty of this place and what our being here represents. Amen.

Carol M. Strickland, Associate Pastor

Saturday, December 12, 2020

O Come All Ye Faithful ADESTE FIDELIS

King John IV of Portugal, John Francis Wade (c. 1740-1743)

My father was a career US Navy officer and our family moved every year wherever he was stationed.

We rarely found a regular church, so on Sundays my mother would read “The Illustrated Bible Stories” (Old and New Testament) to my sister and me. That was our “church.”

Unlike my family, my wife Liddell grew up in an Army family and they moved less often, so they would find the church they wanted to attend and move nearby.

Our Christmas service was in our living room. My dad loved music and had a collection of record albums. The first Christmas album I remember was “Christmas Sing Along with Mitch” by Mitch Miller who recorded many “Sing Along” albums in the 1950’s and sixties. The great thing was that the records included a booklet with all the song lyrics. My dad would put on the Christmas record and we would “sing along!”

I loved all the Christmas hymns and carols, but I chose to write about “O, Come All Ye Faithful” for two reasons. First, for three years we lived in Portugal and learned that King John IV of Portugal, “The Musician King,” was credited as the earliest writer of the song. Second, the text, “O, come ye to Bethlehem,” resonates because our singing of all the hymns and carols brought my family to Bethlehem every year in our living room wherever we were.

Lewis Bartlett December 13, 2020 The Third Sunday of Advent

Advent Reading: Joy

Matthew 2:10-11

“When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (NIV)

Monday, December 14, 2020

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear Carol Edmond Hamilton Sears, 1849 Richard Storrs Willis, 1850

Pulling up anchor and heading into a pitch-black night was one of my least favorite things to do while living on a sailboat. As the ambient light from the Florida shore faded and darkness engulfed our little 38-foot boat, I could only imagine what might be ahead. I knew it was necessary to start at “0 dark- thirty” to have time to arrive on the Bahama Banks with enough light to see the reefs that litter the turquoise waters.

But as my anxiety waned and the Atlantic Ocean spread all around, the glorious heavens shone above. Astrophotographer and writer Babak Tafreshi says those heavens are a peaceful message of the night sky and “a unifying roof above all cultures”. When I hear It Came Upon a Midnight Clear, this is the image that comes to mind—bright stars in a dark sky.

What also comes to mind is that, like the heavens above, God always is with us . . . no matter what. This Christmas carol was written by Edmund Sears in 1849, at a time when our country was divided over the recent Mexican- American war. Sears wrote “Peace on the Earth, good will to all. From heaven’s all gracious king, The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing…”

The birth of Jesus Christ is God’s gift to all and peace on the earth is our fervent prayer.

Kitty Williams Donnan Tuesday, December 15, 2020

People Look East - 4 Stars, keep the watch. When night is dim One more light the bowl shall brim, Eleanor Farjeon Shining beyond the frosty weather, (1881-1965) Bright as sun and moon together. French Folk Melody People, look east and sing today: Oxford Book of Carols, 1964 Love, the star is on the way.

In the fourth stanza, Love the star is on the way. Consider this text from Revelation:

“It is I, Jesus, who sent my angel to you with this testimony for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” (Revelation 22:16)

The fourth stanza of this carol uses the star as the metaphor for Christ. Of course, at Christmastime we think of the that led the wise men to the Christ child. But this is different. It’s a metaphorical star. Just as the morning star, what we now know to be the planet Venus, is the brightest star we see in the sky, so Christ is the most spectacular thing on our horizon. Light is certainly a metaphor he used of himself: “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) And God knows, we do need light.

There’s a verse in 2 Peter, a letter written to the early church, which mentions the morning star. In the verse the author is advising his readers to pay attention to his prophetic message. “You’ll do well to keep focusing on it,” he writes. “It’s the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.” (2 Peter 1:19 The Message). We, like those early Christians, participate in the Advent wait, the Advent wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in our hearts. In the darkness, keep watch. Love the star is on the way.

Heavenly Father, in this time of year, when the sun sets early and the nights are long, illuminate our hearts. In the twinkle of each Christmas light, remind us that your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Amen.

Carol M. Strickland Associate Pastor Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Comfort, Comfort You My People Psalm 42 Genevan Psalter Johannes Olearius, 1671 Trans. Catherine Winkworth, 1863, alt.

Pandemic, recession, civic unrest, face masks, eight months of social distancing! We all can use a little comforting. Every time I sing the hymn “Comfort Ye, Comfort Ye,” I am uplifted. John Coble plays the tune as a dance rather than what we think of as a typical hymn tempo. More important than the lively rhythm is the message from Isaiah: 40, foretelling the great comings of John the Baptist and Jesus. Advent is one of my favorite seasons because it is a time of waiting, and anticipation, I still can hardly wait for Christmas. Comfort, comfort you my people, Tell of peace, thus says our God Comfort those who sit in darkness Bowed beneath oppression’s load. Speak you to Jerusalem Of the peace that waits for them; Tell that their sins I cover, And their warfare now is over

Although the hymn itself is almost 350 years old, the words ring true today. This year we have a lot to look forward to: Not only the coming of Jesus but the time when we can safely all be together again. And as the hymn promises, we will be comforted.

Jim Scanlon Thursday, December 17, 2020

People Look East - 5 Angels, announce with shouts of mirth Christ who brings new life to earth. Eleanor Farjeon Set every peak and valley humming With the word, the Lord is coming. (1881-1965) People, look east and sing today: French Folk Melody Love the Lord is on the way. Oxford Book of Carols, 196 In the fifth and final stanza, “Love the Lord is on the way,” consider this reading from I John:

Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. (I John 4:7-9)

A woman had not planned to get a tree that Christmas. But she had decided perhaps a small one would not upset her too much. Her son would have wanted one. But by the time she got to the tree lot, all the tiny, well-shaped ones were gone.

“Tell you what we can do,” said the attendant. “Some of these bigger ones are a little scraggly at the bottom but the tops are just right. If you see one you like, I’ll just cut the bottom off and you can have it for the price of a small one.”

That sounded good, so she chose one that left much to be desired below, but had a perfect three-foot top. As the attendant reached for the tree, all the hard memories and the grief that had been set aside for a while flooded back, and there, unashamed, she wept.

“Are you all right, lady?”

“Not really. You see, my son was killed this year, and this will be the first Christmas without him.”

Without comment the attendant went to work, cut off the top, and put the evergreen in the trunk of her car. “No charge for this one,” he said. “I never knew your son, but I can see you loved him very much. Please take it as a gift from me in honor of your boy.”

This story was shared with me some time ago by my friend Charles who was the woman’s pastor. I’m sure it made its mark because both Charles and the woman had in common the pain of tragically losing a child.

“Of all the gifts I heard of that year,” Charles said, “the little tree will stick in my mind as the most beautiful. It came from a stranger, in honor of a child he never met. The attendant happened to be black and the woman, white, but across all kinds of false barriers we establish in our stupidity and lovelessness, here was a gift that recognized no boundaries.”

This is what we long for. Certainly this is what we long for in a world where children are killed, where innocent people suffer, where tragedy wields its random blow and breaks our hearts. Love is the gift we long for: love that reaches across boundaries, not creates them; love that heals, not hurts. This is what we celebrate at Christmas. In poetry and story, in carol and proclamation, that is what we announce. Love the Lord is on the way.

Loving Lord, you created us in love, for love. In this Advent season, open us to love. Amen.

Carol M. Strickland, Associate Pastor Friday, December 18, 2020

O, Holy Night

Lyricist: Placide Cappeau; Musical Composer, Adolphe Charles Adam

A favorite Christmas memory of mine is to look back on the many times that I was blessed to be in the congregation to hear Doris Granum sing “Oh, Holy Night” at the Christmas Eve service at First Presbyterian Church. Her beautiful voice singing about the birth of our Savior was something to look forward to during the entire Nativity season. I can remember being so moved by the words that I would always have a stash of Kleenex to mop away my tears.

“Fall on your knees, Oh, hear the angel voices, Oh, night divine.”

This is the meaning of Christmas for me and I am forever thankful to have the freedom to worship and the freedom to believe, which was passed to us by the founding fathers of our great country. May we all find safe respite in the 2021 new year, with a proven and effective vaccine for COVID and a thankful heart for our many blessings.

“A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn…”

Let us all take the time during this season of Christmas to be thankful for the Baby Jesus who came to deliver us from our sinful ways and who cherishes and lifts us up every day of our earthly lives.

DeDe Guest

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming ES IST EIN’ ROS’ German carol, 15th century Author of lyrics unknown; printed in Cologne, Germany, in 1599 “Speierisches Gesangbuch” Familiar harmonization written by German composer Michael Praetorius in 1609. English version written by Theodore Baker, 1894

Lo, how a rose e’er blooming Isaiah ‘twas foretold it, From tender stem hath sprung! The rose I have in mind, Of Jesse’s lineage coming, With Mary we behold it. As men of old have sung. The Virgin mother kind. It came, a flow’ret bright, To show God’s love aright Amid the cold of winter, She bore to them a Savior, When half-spent was the night. When half-spent was the night.

What I didn’t like about living in Bremerhaven, Germany, were the dark, bleak days of winter—when the bitter, icy winds blew down from the North Pole, crossed the stormy North Sea, and cut through my rabbit-fur hat and heavy coat, sending chills down my backbone and leaving my nose and cheeks wind-burned.

What I liked best was Christmas, with the smell of spiced, Lebkuchen cookies; raisin-filled, sugar-coated ; Gebrannte Mandeln sugared almonds; Schmalzkuchen doughnuts; and sweet, almond-flavored Marzipan. I dearly loved the elaborate gingerbread houses, hand-blown glass ornaments, hand-carved Christmas angels, and colorful Nussknackers.

Christmas music was everywhere — “Stille Nacht,” “Weg in einer Krippe,” and “Wir drei Konige.” And even though I didn’t understand the German words, I recognized the music. One new-to-me German carol that I loved was “Es ist ein Ros entsprungen.” Many years later, when the Chancel Choir sang the English version of “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” I recognized the music, but not the meaning of the words. I soon learned that the hymn is about the fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which foretells the birth of Jesus (Isaiah 7:14) and explains the genealogy of Jesus (Isaiah 11:1). In the hymn, the rose (Mary) sprouts from the stem of the Tree of Jesse, symbolizing the descent of Jesus from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David, and brings forth a child (Jesus, our Savior) — “a flow’ret bright.”

So today, whenever I hear or sing “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” I am reminded of my dark, bleak winter days in Germany, which were always brightened and warmed by the magic of Christmas and the birth of Jesus.

Muriel Pritchett December 20, 2020 The Fourth Sunday of Advent

Advent Reading: Love

John 3:16-19

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

Monday, December 21, 2020

O, Holy Night

Lyricist: Placide Cappeau; Musical Composer, Adolphe Charles Adam

“Oh, Holy Night” is my favorite Christmas song, and my favorite version is Josh Groban’s rendition. A challenge for any writer of Christmas hymns or stories is how to approach a very familiar story in a new way. As my wife will tell you, I love anticipating upcoming events, and this song is about just that – awaiting the birth of Christ. It’s not about the birth of Christ, although that is clearly implied; it is about our anticipation of that birth, which is what Advent is about. The night itself becomes holy because of what is about to occur.

I love this line, which speaks to the long anticipation of the birth of Christ:

“Long lay the world, in sin and error pining.”

The Old Testament is replete with passages foreshadowing the coming of the Christ child. The world was indeed waiting for this baby to save us all.

The message of “Oh Holy Night” for me is that we can make the events and times and occurrences of our lives holy if we just remember that they are gifts from God. Imbuing our daily lives – even at their most mundane and banal – with the belief and knowledge that they are ordained by God, makes every moment an “Oh Holy Night” moment.

Chuck Toney

Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Rejoice! Rejoice, Believers

LLANGLOFFAN Laurentius Laurenti, 1700 Welsh Folk Melody

Rejoice, Rejoice believers, and let your lights appear The evening is advancing, and darker night is near The Bridegroom is arising and soon he will draw nigh: Up, Watching in expectation! Amid night comes the cry.

This stanza so beautifully crafted epitomizes the wait for Christmas during the time of Christ’s birth and during modern times. When Christ was born it tells of a people in darkness with hope (small lights glowing) waiting for the Savior. In modern times, it paints a picture of burning in the dark on Christmas Eve as we wait on the “longest night” of the year for the glory of Christmas morning.

However, not only does the Hymn epitomize the Advent wait, it also tells of our feelings of longing for Christ’s love during sad or dark times on ordinary days. When I am down, scared, disappointed, frustrated, I take a minute to breathe. Then in hope, I begin praying. As Jesus hears my prayers, my hopes and expectations are fulfilled. My issues are not necessarily completely solved, but Jesus’s love and caring eases the unhappy feelings. I feel the peace of Jesus’ love.

Even the somber tone of the hymn, followed by praise, embraces the feeling of expectation followed by great joy. The hymn Rejoice, Rejoice Believers has me thinking of the awaited Jesus during Advent and not during Advent.

Joan Pinson Wednesday, December 23, 2020

On Christmas Night All Christians Sing

The Sussex Carol Publ: Bishop Luke Wadding, 17th century Small Garland of Pious and Godly Songs,1684

“All out of darkness, we have light…” I’m a sucker for English Christmas carols and The Sussex Carol (“On Christmas Night, All Christians Sing”) has been a favorite of mine since I was a child. The whole carol is joyous, focusing on all the reasons why we sing and celebrate the birth of Christ. But, for some reason, it’s always this first line of the fourth and final stanza that grips me. The passage in Isaiah: 9 that we often read in the season of Advent reminds us that “the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” This year, I would venture to say that the majority of us have felt like we were walking in darkness. Maybe you’ve suffered the loss of a loved one, or a stalled career, or a scary diagnosis. Maybe you’re worn down from all of the injustice and political unrest in our nation. Certainly, the pandemic that is raging is enough to put us all on edge and make us weary. There is darkness all around. But we have the promise of Light. At Christmas, we received the Light of the World. Christ’s love is a light that permeates that darkness, illuminating the way and serving as a source of warmth and comfort. It is what “made the angels sing that night,” and continues to give us a reason to sing and be glad today. As the carol says “Glory to God and peace to men, now and forevermore, amen!” Leslie Trier Thursday, December 24, 2020 Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve: Adoration

John 1:14

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

Friday, December 25, 2020 Christmas Day

From Heaven Above Text: Martin Luther Music: Attributed to Martin Luther, based on a German folk tune

One of the many challenging things that has come with our pandemic in 2020 has been trying to worship at home. I’ve been one of the few present in our sanctuary, live streaming services, but I realize it must feel strange to sing hymns at home with just your family. We normally do that with a church full of people. It seems depressing to think of not being able to do that at Christmas.

I chose a Christmas hymn that is probably not well-known to many, but the story behind it makes it appropriate this year. We know Martin Luther from the Protestant Reformation. This hymn gives a glimpse of Luther as a father at home. In 1543, he knew a folk song with words about bringing good news from a foreign land. He adapted the tune and wrote new words for his children to sing at home on Christmas Eve as they performed the Christmas story. A Christmas pageant at home! It’s assumed his oldest son sang the role of the angel bringing good news:

“From heaven above to earth I come to bring good news to everyone! Glad tidings of great joy I bring to all the world, and gladly sing.”

The original fourteen stanzas went through the Christmas story, with other children probably singing some stanzas. So, it is possible to worship and sing hymns at home.

Given our difficult year, one stanza in particular is meaningful to me:

“This is the Christ, God’s Son most high, who hears your sad and bitter cry; he will himself your Savior be and from all sin will set you free.”

Thanks be to God! John Coble, Director of Music and Organist Saturday, December 26, 2020 The First Day of Christmas

Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow. For all is hushed, The world is sleeping, Holy Star its vigil keeping. Still, still, still, One can hear the falling snow. I Sleep, sleep, sleep, 'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth. The night is peaceful all around you, Close your eyes, Let sleep surround you. Sleep, sleep, sleep, 'Tis the eve of our Saviour's birth. I Dream, dream, dream, Of the joyous day to come. While guardian angels without number, Watch you as you sweetly slumber. Dream, dream, dream, Of the joyous day to come.

Still, still, still takes me back to one of those frigid nights in my hometown on Christmas Eve, where the snow was lightly falling. There was a sense of restlessness and excitement because of the day and snow. The choir began singing these words, and the awe of this lullaby struck us all. What comfort they provided in the warmth of this sanctuary while being surrounded by friends and loved ones.

Today, this music speaks to me as God saying, “Be still my child. You are in my arms. Stop your fussing and be patient. So, sleep, sleep, sleep. Just as I brought you my Son to save the world, I will give you a vaccine to destroy this virus. Settle down and enjoy the peace and tranquility that I have given you. Enjoy the things that matter in life – health, family and friends, the opportunity to work, the nature surrounding you, and the faith you have in me.

“Dream, dream, dream. Take time to reflect on the wrongs in this world and think of solutions. You are the change agent, just as my Son had been so many years ago. When you awake from this pandemic, you will be ready to face these issues.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the many blessings you have given us that we take for granted. Please help us to follow your teachings on the ways we think and act. Let us remember those who are struggling and bring them comfort. Have us not forget that it is more gracious and self-fulling to give than receive. Remind us to be still and hear your word. Amen.

Diane L. Hartzell (Note the text forms a ) Sunday, December 27, 2020 The Second Day of Christmas

Luke 2: 15 - 20

“When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

“So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. [...]

“The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Monday, December 28, 2020 The Third Day of Christmas

The Dawn's Redeeming Grace

Silent Night STILLE NACHT Joseph Mohr, 1818 Trans. John Freeman Young, 1863 Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818

On Christmas Eve, 1818, organist and music teacher Franz Gruber helped Father Joseph Mohr set to music his poem of hope for their beleaguered parishioners devastated by the ravages of man and nature. After , Father Mohr played a guitar as the two men sang their simple but comforting gift. Inspired, the congregation joined in the singing and continued on their way home. Now people throughout the world sing 700 renditions of "Silent Night" in more than 300 languages. This year more than ever, the world needs to be heartened by this carol's words of hope.

Luke 2:10: Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people." (KJV)

As midnight neared that silent Christmas Eve night, believers trod with candles barely lighting their way. They trudged past war's devastation and graves of loved ones, killed in battles by invaders in a never-ending war or in skirmishes with their constant enemy, tuberculosis.

On this holy night they persevered through biting cold. No wondrous star shone as mocking winds disheartened worshippers escaping to light, warmth, and a faith to share.

Met by radiant beams lending their glorious streams, they entered a dwelling where all was calm, all was bright. Two men of God shared their simple gift of song about a virgin mother and child so tender and mild.

Like a heavenly host, the congregation joined in singing, continuing as they left their sanctuary to brave a hostile world, full of hope as they walked in love's pure light, longing for sleep in heavenly peace that silent and holy night.

Jerry Rogers Tuesday, December 29, 2020 The Fourth Day of Christmas

Still, Still, Still Austrian carol Trans. George K. Evans (b. 1917 Austrian Melody Arr. Walter Ebret (b. 1918

Many years ago, I was faced with a breast cancer diagnosis that threw me for a loop. I had an overwhelming feeling that while scary, the diagnosis was largely an inconvenient hassle that was interrupting my life. In the Mary and Martha story in the bible, Martha was definitely my girl. (Luke 10. 38-42) As my treatment slogged on, my ability to go, go, go did not. I found that my frustration at the disease and the restrictions it brought increased day by day. I remember reading a devotional that centered on “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46.10) and a small, let’s say mustard seed size, of a thought entered my mind, “Maybe I’m not in control of this and I should just be still and let God do the rest.” I quickly disregarded that notion, but the next day I saw the verse again in another article, and then again over the next week it would reappear in various ways. I finally conceded the message was meant for me. The hymn Still, Still, Still reminds me of that difficult, but precious time when I learned to be still, let go, and listen for God’s whisper. God’s blessings are either already with us or just around the corner if we can just be still and know that He is God. Susan Boatwright Wednesday, December 30, 2020 The Fifth Day of Christmas In the Bleak Midwinter CRANHAM Christina Rosetti, c. 1872 Gustave Theodore Holst, 1906

Kiss the feet of babies before they learn to walk, before the cuts and bruises. Read Bible stories to children before the questions arise about where babies come from and what death means. Wave palm branches before they ask about the crowds cheering a man sitting on a donkey. Stuff Easter baskets with plastic grass and candy eggs before they learn about friends and betrayal, crucifixation and death.

Parents envisioned themselves as childhood architects, building scenery, arranging furniture, preparing feasts, purchasing materials and writing scripts. They try to secure the boundaries, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and protect the innocent. They hope good things happen to their children. They want peace and quiet.

A young girl, in a tight-knit family, in a home with little privacy and constant supervision, announces she is “with child.” Her distraught relatives are astonished, and unable to make heads-or-tails of her strange story. Suddenly there is a knock at the door. The respectable man who had promised to marry the girl shows up with his luggage packed and his water jugs filled. He doesn’t feel humiliated at all. Far from it, he is confident that an out-of-town trip will work wonders. He whisks the young girl off to God only knows where, no doubt leaving her family to pay more attention to all the other children in town for generations to come.

“Frosty winds made moan,” is the way Christina Rossetti chose to describe the hasty departure of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth. Her poem, “,” published in 1872, shiny as a perfect jewel, awaited its tune. Gustav Holst was the first to set it to music for the English Hymnal of 1906.

Simple words are carefully chosen. Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone, air as cold as snow, in a stark and somber place. The words “bleak,” and “bleach,” share a prehistoric German ancestor. “Bleak,” wallows in discouragement and disappointment, grim prospects and hopelessness. “Bleach” is its brighter cousin, celebrating cleanliness and purity, sunshine and innocence. In the Bleak Midwinter, Jesus Christ chose to come as The Light of the World to warm our hearts, to drag us out of darkness, so that we may have life.

Laura Hale Bennewitz Thursday, December 31, 2020 The Sixth Day of Christmas

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly Infant holy, Infant lowly, Polish Carol For his bed a cattle stall; Trans. and para. Edith M. G. Freed, 1925 Oxen lowing, little knowing Christ the Babe is Lord of all.

Luke 2: 10 – 14

This has been a long and difficult year.

I don’t want psychological or sociological or theological analyses. I want comfort. This baby will grow and teach and lead us. And he will die for us to save us.

But right now … He is a babe in a manger.

I need comfort … the comfort of a sweet little baby and the miracle that He is.

Babies don’t care whether they are in a cattle stall or a fine crib as long as they are fed, held and loved. Babies don’t know what a pandemic is, but they know that they have a loving family around them.

So, we celebrate a baby … a future … a bright light shining through the darkness.

Beverly Phares

Friday, January 1, 2021 The Seventh Day of Christmas

The First Nowell English Carol 17th century

On Christmas Eve Day, 1963, Jeanne and her four sisters faced their annual dilemma. As they once again prepared to reenact the Christmas story, they had to decide who would fill the one cherished female role, Mary, while the others would play male parts. Somehow that year, like every year, the decision was made with little argument. The Christmas Eve tradition took root and blossomed as Jeanne and her sisters annually made programs, sang hymns and played instruments, dressed in homemade costumes, and performed for their parents and their grandparents who lived in the same red brick farmhouse.

As the years passed and each daughter married and had children of her own, the tradition flourished. Because there were now boys and girls of many ages and almost always a baby to play the Jesus role, the new generation of grandchildren was put to work planning and performing the “The First Nowell.”

Jeanne’s grandparents faithfully attended until they passed in the early 1980s. We always looked forward to this special evening as our sons, Jim and Nathan, and their cousins, played their parts reminding us to remember the most special birth of all, the birth of Jesus Christ.

To this day, each time we hear or sing “The First Nowell,” we not only think of the night God sent his Son to earth “and with his blood mankind hath bought,” we also hold beautiful memories of our loving family.

“Nowell, nowell, nowell, nowell, born is the King of Israel."

Dan and Jeanne Nadenicek Saturday, January 2, 2021 The Eighth Day of Christmas

“The Shepherds’ Farewell” is part of the sacred trilogy L’enfance du Christ (The Childhood of Christ, Op. 25), composed by Hector Berlioz in 1850-1854. The three-part oratorio is based on the Bible story of the Holy Family’s . It begins with “The Dream of Herod” and his wicked decree and ends with “Arrival at Sais” as the Holy Family settles into a foreign land. In the middle is “The Shepherd’s Farewell,” a centerpiece so beautiful it is often performed as a stand-alone work.

Berloiz tells the story from the shepherds’ point of view in a gentle, restrained, and contemplative way. An angel appears to Joseph in a dream, warning that Herod is searching for the child and will destroy him. They must flee Bethlehem that very night. The shepherds, who were the first to visit, return to bid the family farewell.

Thou must leave thy lowly dwelling, the humble crib, the stable bare. Babe, all mortal babes excelling, content our earthly lot to share. Loving father, loving mother, shelter thee with tender care.

Blessed Jesus, we implore thee with humble love and holy fear, In the land that lies before thee, forget not us who linger here. May the shepherds, lowly calling, ever to thy heart be dear.

Blest are ye beyond all measure, thou happy father, mother mild. Guard ye well your heav'nly treasure, the Prince of Peace, the Holy Child. God go with you, God protect you, guide you safely through the wild.

I listen to “The Shepherds’ Farewell” every Christmas. It’s always heartbreakingly beautiful, a transcendent piece. But this year, in this strange time of pandemic, political unrest, and reckoning of racial injustice, I hear it differently. There is unease. Berlioz has written something unexpected, a foreboding moment imbued with warning into the music. Listen for it in the bass at the end of the last line of the verses, just before the final repeat.

In other years, I saw the story of the flight of the Holy Family as an extension of the Nativity Story, and was swept away by the wonder of it all. Now I see that as they fled along “the way of the sea,” that coastal Roman road connecting Palestine and Egypt, they were refugees. I hear a human story.

As they fled, babies were slaughtered, and I can’t look away.

We know this divine child, Son of man and Son of God, lived to be a young adult who would one day proclaim “I am the Good Shepherd.” We know the mystery and the miracles, the suffering and the grace. We know how the story ends. And that it’s just the beginning.

As we pass through these days that surround us now, the poignant words of the second verse in “The Shepherds’ Farewell” speak for us, too: Blessed Jesus, we implore Thee Forget not us who linger here.

Dianne Penny Wilson

Sunday, January 3, 2021 The Ninth Day of Christmas

The Three Kings Henry Wordsworth Longfellow So they rode away; and the star stood still, The only one in the grey of morn; Three Kings came riding from far away, Yes, it stopped -it stood still of its own free will, Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar; Right over Bethlehem on the hill, Three Wise Men out of the East were they, The city of David, where Christ was born. And they travelled by night and they slept by day, For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star. And the Three Kings rode through the gate and the guard, Through the silent street, till their horses turned The star was so beautiful, large and clear, And neighed as they entered the great inn-yard; That all the other stars of the sky But the windows were closed, and the doors were barred, Became a white mist in the atmosphere, And only a light in the stable burned. And by this they knew that the coming was near Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy. And cradled there in the scented hay, In the air made sweet by the breath of kine, Three caskets they bore on their saddle-bows, The little child in the manger lay, Three caskets of gold with golden keys; The child, that would be king one day Their robes were of crimson silk with rows Of a kingdom not human, but divine. Of bells and pomegranates and furbelows, Their turbans like blossoming almond-trees. His mother Mary of Nazareth Sat watching beside his place of rest, And so the Three Kings rode into the West, Watching the even flow of his breath, Through the dusk of the night, over hill and dell, For the joy of life and the terror of death And sometimes they nodded with beard on breast, Were mingled together in her breast. And sometimes talked, as they paused to rest, With the people they met at some wayside well. They laid their offerings at his feet: The gold was their tribute to a King, 'Of the child that is born', said Baltasar, The frankincense, with its odor sweet, 'Good people, I pray you, tell us the news; Was for the Priest, the Paraclete, For we in the East have seen his star, The myrrh for the body's burying. And have ridden fast, and have ridden far, To find and worship the King of the Jews'. And the mother wondered and bowed her head, And sat as still as a statue of stone, And the people answered, 'You ask in vain; Her heart was troubled yet comforted, We know of no King but !' Remembering what the Angel had said They thought the Wise Men were men insane, Of an endless reign and of David's throne. As they spurred their horses across the plain, Like riders in haste, who cannot wait. Then the Kings rode out of the city gate, With a clatter of hoofs in proud array; And when they came to Jerusalem, But they went not back to Herod the Great, Herod the Great, who had heard this thing, For they knew his malice and feared his hate, Sent for the Wise Men and questioned them; And returned to their homes by another way. And said, 'Go down unto Bethlehem, And bring me tidings of this new king'.

Monday, January 4, 2021 The Tenth Day of Christmas

Once In Royal David’s City IRBY Cecil Frances Alexander, 1848 Henry John Guantlett, 1849

1. Once in royal David’s city 5. Not in that poor lowly stable, Stood a lowly cattle shed, With the oxen standing by, Where a mother laid her baby We shall see him, but in Heaven, In the manger for His bed. Set at God’s right hand on high; Mary was that mother mild, When like stars His children crowned Jesus Christ her little child. All in white shall wait around.

Traditionally sung by a boy’s choir, the first stanza is often sung by a soloist with the whole choir joining in to sing the other four or sometimes five stanzas. The author of the text, Cecil Frances Humphries Alexander, a prolific poet born in Ireland in 1818 and later married to an Anglican bishop, wrote the lyrics as a poem published in 1848 in her book entitled Hymns for Little Children. The following year Henry John Gauntlett set the words to music.

Sung by our church choir at Christmas, it has become a favorite of mine. If we close our eyes and listen to this beautiful music and meditate on the words, we are transfixed by the telling of the story of Jesus, from his lowly birth to our one day seeing Christ take his place at God’s right hand.

This is the Christmas story. This is the story we learn as children. This is the Christmas story that gives us a feeling of peace and assurance that God is in control and always waiting for us.

May it be so.

Judy Scanlon Tuesday, January 5, 2021 The Eleventh Day of Christmas

Bring We the Frankincense Bring we the frankincense of our love of Our Love To the feet of the Holy Child, EPIPHANY SONG Ever remembering God's great gift H. Kenn Carmichael, 1976 Of a love that is undefiled. God is love. Is that not at the heart of it all? At the heart of all our Advent preparing? At the heart of all our Christmas celebrating? At the heart of all our theology? God is love. And that love was made clearest to us in the baby born in Bethlehem, the baby proclaimed by angels, adored by shepherds.

Jesus grew up and lived a life of love, accepting people regardless of their goodness or lack of goodness. He reached out to those whom others despised. He valued every person. He embodied patience, kindness, humility, generosity--every facet of love. He came to show us God’s love is universal and indiscriminate. In the end, he gave his life selflessly, lovingly.

Our prime directive (to borrow a phrase from Star Trek), our guiding principle is to respond to God’s love with love. To love God with our whole being and to love other people and ourselves.

To do this is to live. To love is to truly live.

Carol M. Strickland Associate Pastor

Wednesday, January 6, 2021 The Twelfth Day of Christmas Epiphany

Joy To The World Antioch Isaac Watts, 1719, alt. Attr. George Frederick Handel, 1742 Arr. Lowell Mason, 1836

Christmas carols are a large part of celebrating our Advent season. We sing them in church; play them in our homes; listen to them on our radios and hear them in stores and shopping malls. Perhaps my favorite Christmas hymn is “Joy to the World.” It was written by Isaac Watts in the eighteenth century. It is based on Psalm 98. It wasn’t intended to be a Christmas carol, but a hymn of praise for the Savior who was born and who one day will rule over all creations. Watts’ desire was to lead us to rejoice in all that Jesus was and is and will be. Over the years, this hymn has become a staple Christmas carol as it declares the coming of a King.

It is hard for me to listen to or sing “Joy to the World” without smiling.

“Joy to the World, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King!”

Christmas is a time for us to rejoice and celebrate the birth of Christ. The greatest gift God offered through his Son was not only life. It was his death, resurrection and salvation offered to us.

These days we all have concerns regarding what is happening in our lives and around the world. Our days are blending together. This Christmas let’s transform our thoughts from mundane to happy and from happy to joyous by resting on the fact that you are loved and forgiven by a great God. Make room for Christ in your heart today, and let your life overflow with praise.

Joy to the World, the Lord is come: Let Earth receive her King!

Sydney Jackson

Schedule of Worship

Nov. 29 Daniel 6:6-27 Dr. Ryan Baer, “Hope in the Lions’ Den” First Sunday of Advent When jealous advisors tricked the king into outlawing worship of God, Daniel remained loyal to God. After surviving the sentence of execution by lion, Daniel’s courage turned an entire kingdom toward God.

Dec. 6 Joel 2:12-13, 28-29 Dr. Ryan Baer, “God’s Promised Spirit” Second Sunday of Advent Israel had strayed and was exiled. But God was not done yet. God promised the Holy Spirit, which would bring dreams and visions of a life far better than this.

Dec. 13 Service of Lessons and Carols Dr. John Coble Third Sunday of Advent

Dec. 20 Ex. 12:1-13, 13:1-8 Dr. Ryan Baer, “The Birth Announcement” Fourth Sunday of Advent Without fanfare, an angel announced the coming of a baby to Mary. While she waited, she took the opportunity to seek out her support community and prepare for the child’s arrival.

Dec. 21 Service of the Longest Night – 7 p.m.

Dec. 24 Luke 2:1-20 Dr. Ryan Baer, “Away in a Manger” Christmas Eve – 4, 6*, 8 This Christmas story is likely the most familiar story in the Bible. And yet, this story of Jesus’ birth—the census, the inn, the angels, and the shepherds—has the capacity to capture our imaginations every time we hear it.

Dec. 27 Luke 2:21-38 Dr. Carol Strickland, “Simeon and Anna” First Sunday After Christmas The righteous man, Simeon, and the prophet, Anna, both recognized the fulfillment of God’s promises in the baby, Jesus, when he was presented before the temple for circumcision on his eighth day after birth.

Jan. 3 Luke 2:41-52 Dr. Ryan Baer, “Boy in the Temple” Second Sunday After Christmas Mary and Joseph had no idea where Jesus went when he failed to follow the family’s caravan home from Jerusalem. But Jesus was surprised that they hadn’t guessed he was in his heavenly parent’s house.

185 East Hancock Avenue Athens, Georgia 30601

(706) 543-4338 www.firstpresathens.org First Presbyterian Church of Athens 170 E. First Presbyterian Church on Facebook www.facebook.com/firstpresathens Follow First Presbyterian Church on Facebook.

FPC Weekday School on Facebook www.facebook.com/firstpresathenswds Follow First Presbyterian’s Weekday School on Facebook.

First Presbyterian Church on YouTube www.youtube.com/c/firstpresathensga Subscribe to our channel on YouTube

Of Sunday Worship Livestream: 10:00 a.m. (Facebook and YouTube)one (706) 543-4338

Office Fax (706) 548-8953 Weekday School (706) 549-8677 or (706) 206-8180