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The Promise of Light Devotions for Advent and Christmas

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The Promise of Light Devotions for Advent and Christmas The Promise of Light Devotions for Advent and Christmas 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 Jesus 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 Epiphany, 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 Bethlehem, 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 Gabriel 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.
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