Sabbatical, Imago Dei

My vision for sabbatical is not near as grand as Anne’s was, but the purpose is the same.  Sabbatical is not an extended vacation (like taking a Disney cruise or sipping a mai tai on an exotic beach somewhere).  The word “sabbatical” has its etymological grounding in the biblical (especially Genesis and the resulting Judaic tradition) concept of “sabbath” during which God rested from and took delight in the work of creation, from whence comes the idea, not only of rest and delight, but renewal - being re-created and more capable for the ongoing work of ministry.  I’ll be away on sabbatical for two months, from May 19 through the middle of July.  (I am an alternate deputy to General Convention, which is June 23-28 in Louisville, KY, exactly when I return will depend on whether I am called up to serve at General Convention during that week.)

My focused attention will be what is already grounding in my daily prayer life, though going ever deeper.  That is, imago Dei, seeing the image of God in who and what God created (like what we talked about during the opening forums this past January).  More specifically, the “who” is based in our Baptismal Covenant promises of seeking and serving Christ in all persons, striving for justice and peace, and respecting the dignity of every human being, as well as the scriptural imperative to love God, neighbor, and self, which includes elements of racial and ethnic equity.  The “what” is a focus on the natural world, caring for God’s creation, which, if you recall, was God’s first command to humanity.  Or as I pointed out in January, having the eyes to see that the creation reveals its Creator.

I’ll be going to natural areas like the Smoky Mountains on the North Carolina side, the Okefenokee Swamp in south Georgia, and the Boundary Waters area in Minnesota. 

There are a couple of other places I’ll be visiting with particular resources for attending to the natural world, including where I went to seminary in Sewanee, TN, and at Purdue University in Indiana.  While on that trek, I’ll be seeing the outdoor drama Unto These Hills in

Cherokee, NC, which tells the story of Cherokee history, including the Trail of Tears; and a little later, traveling to a site in southwestern Kentucky (Hopkinsville) marking one of the routes of the Trail of Tears.  I’ll also be perusing noteworthy historical sites in Montgomery, Selma, and Birmingham, Alabama.

My sabbatical will also include relatively significant time with family in Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. And yes, a quick stop at Disney World; following the lead of a group known as Disney Monastics (you can see the image of God in the imagination and creativity at Disney - if you have the eyes to see). Family (and to some degree, even Disney) is an essential aspect of how I take care of myself - renewing and re-creating myself - so that (with much gratitude for the gift of sabbatical, I might add) I return more capable of serving God among the people of St. Andrew’s.

— Marc Vance, Associate Rector

I am grateful for you!

Dear friends,

I am grateful for:

Busy moms who take the time to craft a poignant Maundy Thursday service where children learn to wash each other’s feet

Hardworking altar and flower guild members and leaders who polish, scrub, lug, decorate, refill, iron, launder, organize, replenish, and arrange to create such beauty for our worship week by week, season by season, year by year

Those whose hands hold and distribute the bread and wine, helping us partake of Christ himself, inside the church and elsewhere

Volunteer receptionists who answer phones and doors and endure long periods of potential boredom in order to spring into action when needed

Musicians and their leaders who grace us with the gift of their voices and other instruments, leading us in song and enriching our worship

Those who guide us to and from the altar, collect our offerings, provide us with bulletins, and greet us with a smile

Teachers and helpers and nursery staff who enfold our littlest ones with love

Acolytes of all shapes and sizes and ages; those who are learning and those who are mentoring

All who plant and rake and weed and water, stewarding our precious grounds
Cooks and dishwashers, servers and table setters; all who nourish us in body and spirit through church fellowship

Those who pledge and tithe and give; and all who count and organize, deposit and manage our finances, caring wisely for that which has been entrusted to us

Sound operators and video streamers, ably overseeing electronic ministries and gamely leaping to assist each other when glitches arise

Those who study and those who teach; on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and so many other times in between

Lectors who read God’s word for us and offer our heartfelt prayers to God

Staff who scramble to ensure that funerals and receptions are a source of comfort and hope for grieving families; that our spacious and somewhat challenging building is well cared for; that concerns are addressed and communication happens

Vestry members who grapple faithfully with knotty problems in order to serve God and their fellow parishioners

People who come and worship even when they are tired or stressed or overwhelmingly busy; even when the morning hasn’t gone smoothly and the car ride wasn’t pleasant

Those who speak or text or email sweet and encouraging words to uplift tired spirits and remind people of God’s love

All who go out into the world for God’s sake and on our behalf

You  😊
 
Easter blessings and much love.  -- Anne

Eastertide

Eastertide is the season where we get to hear a little each Sunday from the book of Acts, a record of the wild experiences of Jesus’s first disciples as they went into the world to tell the good news. After having taken a good look inside ourselves during the season of Lent, in Eastertide Jesus pushes us from the nest and we find ourselves, like those disciples, bumping our way through actual discipleship in the real world.

It’s exciting, especially at first, when the memory of the risen Lord is fresh in our minds. Think of the last time you had a personal revelation, or you read a book you adored; you couldn’t wait to tell someone.  But at some point the newness wanes and the vigor you once felt is no longer enough to properly fuel your work in the world.

That is, I believe, where your Christian community comes in. For the members of the choir, for instance, we feel refreshed in our knowledge of the risen Lord when we work intensely on an anthem and it comes together on a Sunday morning. We hit just the right chord and there is something sacred born that is more than the sum of the individual notes. In children’s church, interactions amongst children who had just met were of course hesitant in September; now those same children huddle together in excitement as acolytes, waiting for the procession to begin. I see God at work every week when going about my responsibilities at church. Parishioners show up, without fanfare and probably sometimes without thanks, to collect and deliver food to the food pantry, to water the plants inside and out, to make sure the children’s activity bags are freshly stuffed and have a rotating selection of activities.

Much of God’s work is difficult and tedious. Not every gathering of the faithful produces a golden moment you treasure, but it is because we did not neglect to meet that we gather what we need in order to do what Jesus sent us to do. This Eastertide, as you flap your fledgling disciple wings, I hope St. Andrew’s can be your place to flock and renew yourself week after week.

Ginny Chilton, Minister of Music

An Easter saga

At my old church in Florida, every year when we came out of church on Easter Sunday morning, the cars in the parking lot were plastered with fliers that decried Easter as having nothing to do with the resurrection.  The word “Easter” was a reference to a pagan god of fertility or something and, indeed, my dictionary of etymology says that Eastre was the name of a Germanic goddess, deriving from the word “east”, indicating an original reference to the goddess of dawn.  OK, but my etymological dictionary also begins the definition by stating that by the year 1103, it was a festival commemorating the resurrection of Christ, from which we get the name Ester (the title of a book of the Old Testament, last time I looked.)

Along those lines, I have never figured out what the heck the Easter Bunny has to do with the resurrection.  And why would a rabbit go around laying eggs anyway?  Besides, rabbits don’t lay eggs, so where would an oversized rabbit get eggs - from the Easter Chicken?  OK, an egg can represent new life, new life being offered by the resurrection, but Jesus didn’t lay an egg in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Egg hunts are harmless fun, but the closest thing I can come to a biblical reference for them is a horde of locusts descending on the landscape!
 
Eastre, bunnies, eggs…  I really wouldn’t mind coming around to what some have begun referring to as Resurrection Sunday.  Seems to say what we’re celebrating pretty straight-forwardly, but then, since its earliest days, Christianity has been shrewdly appropriating the dates of pagan holidays, taking what has already been considered sacred and overlaying it with the Christian story (everyone likes Christmas trees, right?), sanctifying the time to the Lord, but until it becomes more common, happy Easter!
 
— Marc Vance, Associate Rector

Life is changed, not ended

Dear friends,

If you have attended a funeral at St. Andrew’s, you have probably seen a note from the Book of Common Prayer in our bulletin.  It begins The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all its meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too, shall be raised.

A funeral is an Easter liturgy.  That’s why we vest the altar and the clergy in white, why we light the Paschal candle at every burial office.  We are an Easter people.  Even at the grave, as the words of the commendation tell us, we make our song:  Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

In a few days we will begin our slow, sad walk through Holy Week.  On Good Friday we will come to Jesus’ grave.  But the journey does not end there.  It ends with the resurrection light of Easter Sunday, of Jesus alive again and giving us that life, in this world and the next.

This is it:  Christians’ holiest season, the remembrance of Jesus’ death and celebration of his resurrection.  Not only does the burial liturgy find all its meaning in the resurrection; so do we.  Easter matters not only on the appointed spring morning but also, and more importantly, at every other moment of our lives, in all seasons, in joy and sorrow. 

The resurrection we celebrate with happy hymns on Easter Sunday is the central truth of our lives, from birth to death, and beyond.

One of my favorite lines in the funeral service is from the preface at communion:  For to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended.  That is our faith in a nutshell.

Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too, shall be raised.  I look forward to celebrating Jesus’ resurrection with you on March 31—and to our living and walking as Easter people in all of the days to come.

Blessings.  -Anne

 

Wednesday, March 27

11:00 AM  -  Lenten Service of Holy Eucharist

Thursday, March 28

5:30 PM  -  Maundy Thursday Family Service: Click here for details & RSVP
7:00 PM  -  Maundy Thursday Service

Friday, March 29

12:00 PM  -  Stations of the Cross
7:00 PM  -  Good Friday Service

Saturday, March 30

7:00 PM  -  Holy Saturday/Service of Light

Sunday, March 31  -  Easter Day!

6:30 AM  -  Sunrise Service behind Hilton School
8:00 AM  -  Holy Eucharist, Rite I
10:00 AM  -  Children's Chapel with Easter Egg Hunt (gather in the Youth House beginning at 9:45)
10:30 AM  -  Festal Eucharist, Rite II

Maundy Thursday Family Service
March 28, 5:30 to 6:30  in the Parish Hall.
This gathering is designed for families with young children (although anyone is welcome!) and will include dinner, communion, foot washing, and other activities suitable for young children. Click here for more info and to RSVP.

Easter Children’s Chapel & Egg Hunt
On Easter Sunday, Children’s Chapel begins at 10:00 AM in the Youth House.  It will include an Easter Egg Hunt for children of all ages (bring a basket). Please begin gathering at 9:45 AM. 

Love's Endeavor, Love's Expense

 One of the many fun parts of my job is picking out new music for the choir. I can listen to new music online, or sit down with a stack of anthems and immerse myself at the piano. In school we focused mostly on music written 100 or even 300 years ago. Works by the great masters are still my staples, but I find I also have a need for new texts and music. A new hymn or anthem can be disarming in how it finds ways to expand my sense of God and address issues peculiar to modern life.

In past eras of church life, and still in certain Christian cultures and denominations, the focus of Lent and especially Holy Week is on Jesus’s acute suffering and the graphic nature of his Crucifixion. These things can’t and shouldn’t be overlooked, but to focus on them too much detracts from the self-sacrificial love at the heart of Jesus’s final hours.
 
In light of this, I was glad to come across a new anthem, “Love’s Endeavor, Love’s Expense,” which the choir plans to sing on Palm Sunday. As Holy Week fast approaches, I hope this beautiful poetry draws you closer to Jesus, to the fascinating paradoxes of power in weakness and life out of death, and most of all to his unconditional love for you.

Morning glory, starlit sky,
Soaring music, scholar's truth,
Flight of swallows, autumn leaves,
Memory's treasure, grace of youth:
 
Open are the gifts of God,
Gifts of love to mind and sense;
Hidden is love’s agony,
Love’s endeavor, love’s expense
 
Love that gives, gives evermore,
Gives with zeal, with eager hands,
Spares not, keeps not, all outpours,
Ventures all, its all expends.

Drained is love in making full,
Bound in setting others free,
Poor in making many rich,
Weak in giving power to be.
 
Therefore he who shows us God
Helpless hangs upon the tree;
And the nails and crown of thorns
Tell of what God's love must be.
 
Here is God, no monarch he,
Throned in easy state to reign;
Here is God, whose arms of love,
Aching, spent, the world sustain.

W. H. Vanstone (1923-1999)
 
—  Ginny Chilton, Music Minister

Lenten mute button

I use the mute button on the TV remote far more than any other.  I understand the economic necessity of businesses to advertise and networks to receive advertising revenue, but the constant insipid prattle blaring from commercials (all of which seemingly are recorded at a higher volume than the actual programming) drives me crazier all the time.  It makes me want to shut the blinds, light a candle, and put on Beethoven’s String Quartets, Op. 74-75.

There is such unrest in our lives in this era.  Street violence and environmental crises; wars and political polarization; over-scheduled kids and worn out parents.  Fewer and fewer people have the experience of iconic TV shows like Andy Griffith (who purposely minimized dialog) or the Waltons (with their family meals and wishing everyone good night), both shows with characters sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch having an actual conversation!
 
With Lent making an appearance this month, a couple of items from our tradition come to mind that might serve to remind us what “the observance of a holy Lent” means (BCP p. 265):
 
Psalm 131, v. 3: I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother’s breast; my soul is quieted within me.
 
From the Prayer Book, p. 832, prayer 59: O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God. (based on Psalm 46:11)
 
This month, maybe it would be a good idea to use the “mute button” on life’s prattle and instead welcome the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent, quieting your soul within you, and in the stillness know God.
 
— Marc Vance, Associate Rector

A Lenten message from Bishop Haynes

In the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, the Celebrant says this: "I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial, and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word..." How do we accomplish this observance of a holy Lent? How do we do all those things—self-examination and repentance, prayer, fasting, self-denial, reading of Scripture? We are all certainly busy and overwhelmed with the demands of life...to add other disciplines seems impossible. 

Lent is a good time to establish new habits. Those who have studied the process of forming habits will tell you that establishing a new habit takes about six weeks. Lent, it turns out, is six weeks long! So, what new habit could you establish in the run-up to Easter? 

Earlier in our life together, my husband was an educator, at both the secondary and collegiate level. One year during Lent, he taught a Muslim student who was observing Ramadan. Since the Muslim was obligated to fast until sundown, he would come to my husband's classroom to pass the time during lunch. One day they got into a discussion about what it means to fast. The Muslim student offered that he had been taught that "one's ears should fast from gossip and one's tongue from unkind words." I am captivated by this idea! What would it be like for my ears to fast from listening to gossip and my tongue to fast from uttering any unkindness? Could I do that??!! We all know how tempting it is to listen to salacious things about others and to snap at others unkindly. Can I make a conscious decision to fast or abstain from this behavior—to bid my ears to fast from gossip and my tongue from unkind words? 

In a world fraught with division and fracture, gossip abounds; and kindness is in short supply. What if I, one day at a time, decided that when gossip approaches my hearing, I would shut it down? What if I, one day at a time, chose to speak only kind, uplifting things? What if a lot of us were to do that? How would that change the world? 

Perhaps you already have a Lenten discipline, but perhaps not. If not, I encourage you to consider the discipline of fasting and abstaining from gossip and unkindness. You can decide on a daily basis to engage this discipline. We won't be perfect at it. But we might make a little progress. And in so doing, the world will change. 

I invite you to a good and holy Lent. You continue in my prayers.

+Bishop Susan

For parish leadership, a season of reflection and goal-setting

 Dear friends,

Just as the church year follows a calendar of seasons, so too does the “business” year that guides the work of St. Andrew’s vestry.  For your parish leadership, the first few months of the year are always a season of reflection and goal-setting. 
 
We begin the January vestry meeting by agreeing on a set of norms to guide our work together.  I encourage you to read through the norms, which are listed below.  They help us as vestry members not only to be accountable to one another but, more importantly, to follow our baptismal vow to respect the dignity of every human being. 
 
In early February, the vestry carries out our annual Mutual Ministry Review, working together through such questions as How does our ministry together as a vestry reflect our vision:  Devoted to sharing the transforming power of God’s love in our lives, our community, and in our world? Where have we made measurable progress, especially on the goals and expectations we have set? and Where are we stuck?
 
After candid, prayerful discussion, the 2024 vestry determined that the three main goals we set last year continue to be relevant: 
1. Nurturing children and young families
2. Enhancing and increasing communication
3. Increasing vestry knowledge and skill about parish finances
We have made progress in all three areas; and we recognize that more progress is needed. 
 
We will be talking more about these goals and also seeking your input during our quarterly congregational meetings, and of course you are welcome to talk with vestry members at any time.  The next congregational meeting will be March 10 between services.
 
Please continue to hold the vestry in your prayers as we work together to honor God and to faithfully serve God’s people.
 
Blessings.  —Anne

St. Andrew’s Vestry Norms
Unanimously adopted by the St. Andrew’s vestry at its meeting on January 24, 2023. From How we live and work together in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. Adopted by the Standing Committee and Executive Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, 2006

• Listen attentively: Honor the ideas and concerns of others by listening with care.
• Practice courtesy: Observe relaxed courtesy in every gathering.
• Respect all opinions: Respectfully include all opinions, even when there is disagreement.
• Speak for self only: Listen and speak from an “I” position (but do not speak for anyone else).
• Model transparency: Act with honesty, openness, directness.
• Honor confidentiality: Respect private or personal confidences when appropriate.
• Share decision-making: Share the power by including all persons affected by the process of decision-making.
• Refrain from judging: Resist speculation or censure about the motives or spiritual maturity of others.
• Communicate consistently: Make careful, consistent communication a priority.
• Challenge in love: Challenge the times when we are not living up to our norms, speaking the truth in love.
• Forgive generously: Forbear and forgive each other’s failings, with God’s help.
• Admit responsibility: Be publicly accountable for errors, seeking to learn from mistakes.
• Be open to the new: Be receptive to exploring new ideas and possibilities.

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me

Author’s note: LEVAS refers to one of the Episcopal Church’s supplemental hymnals: “Lift Every Voice and Sing; An African American Hymnal”
 
February is Black History month, so it’s a perfect time to add more hymns than usual from the Black community into our regular worship. It’s also the start of Lent most years; this year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 14th. As I sift through the many spirituals and traditional songs from Black history, it has been interesting to contemplate them through the lens of Lent. We can sing “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”(LEVAS 70)  any time of year, but it’s particularly poignant to sing as we embark into Lent, where we symbolically walk with Jesus for fifty days in the wilderness. The second stanza repeats, “In my trials, Lord, walk with me,” and in the third stanza, “In my sorrows, walk with me.” We’re walking with Jesus, and Jesus is walking with us.
 
“Give Me Jesus” (LEVAS 91) draws my mind to Ash Wednesday:
 
Dark midnight was the cry, Dark midnight was the cry: Give me Jesus.
O when I come to die, O when I come to die: Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus! You can have all this world! Give me Jesus.
 
In Lent we’re often asked to give something up, in order that we might grow closer to Jesus. “You can have all this world!” (The impulse spending? The overconsumption? The chocolate??) Take it all– give ME Jesus!
 
“His Eye is On the Sparrow,” (LEVAS 191) a Gospel tune by Civilla Martin and Charles Gabriel, was adopted as one of the theme songs of the Civil Rights Movement. My colleague Michael Hawn encapsulated its significance in a blog post he wrote for the United Methodist Church:
 
“The themes of solace in spite of sorrow, and a profound sense of being under the watch-care of Jesus, who is a ‘constant friend,’ offered the African-American community comfort during the Civil Rights movement. The refrain seals the theme—“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free”—words that would speak to everyone, but especially African Americans.”
 
I hope these hymns bring you closer to Jesus during Lent, and in so-doing, draw your heart into our work towards racial reconciliation: in our church, our denomination, and our country. If we walk with Jesus, it can, and will, be done. Amen!

-- Ginny Chilton, Minister of Music

In gratitude for our vestry, past and present

Dear friends,

One of the many delights of being your rector is the opportunity to work with the vestry.  In the seven years that I have served at St. Andrew’s I have had the privilege of working with many faithful parishioners, each one offering their gifts for the common good.  We are so blessed by their leadership.
 
As this new vestry begins its service—and especially as we gather for our vestry retreat on February 2 and 3—please keep us in your prayers. I have included below three collects that the 2023 vestry wrote during our retreat last year. They may help to shape your prayers.
 
Vestry service is hard.  There are many decisions to be made, often about complicated or contentious topics.  Vestry members are called to listen carefully, discern prayerfully, and act faithfully.  (Then again, aren’t we all?)
 
Vestry service can also be a source of deep satisfaction and rich growth as members open themselves to God and one another and learn to trust in the Holy Spirit’s presence and guidance. I pray that the vestry and I will indeed open ourselves to God and one another in order serve St. Andrew’s faithfully and well in the coming year.  In fact, I pray that all of us will serve God faithfully and well—clergy, vestry, and parishioners alike. 
 
I am grateful to be part of that endeavor with each of you. 
 
Blessings.  -Anne

2023 vestry collects 

Holy and eternal God, we ask that you help us remain available to your presence so that we may manifest your goodness as we work to build your kingdom in our own hearts, in our church family, in our communities, and in our world. We pray this through Jesus Christ, the living son, Amen.
 
O God who IS, who led Moses out of Egypt, you call us and equip us with a variety of gifts.  May we use them for the common good to serve St. Andrew’s, our communities, the world, and you.  Through your empowering Spirit, we pray.  Amen. 
 
Father Almighty, we ask for your nurture and guidance so that we may lift the burden of others and further love, peace and respect for all people.  Through Jesus’s teachings, we pray.  Amen.

The Art of Being Still

I've devoted a fair amount of attention over the years (at least trying) to cultivating some semblance of spiritual quiet and stillness.  Besides annual retreat, most often in a monastic setting, and an on-again-off-again practice of tai chi, I've read Introduction to Emptiness by Guy Newland, Quiet Mind by David Kundtz, The Little Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo, Doing Nothing by Steven Harrison, The Art of Doing Nothing by Veronique Nienne, George Prochnik's In Pursuit of Silence and Erling Kagge's Silence in the Age of Noise, and just recently received a copy of The Lost Art of Silence by Sarah Anderson, as well as a whole host of other such readings, including even How to Sit, by Thich Nhat Hanh.

In all of these, it might seem that I'm searching for ways to get away with doing as little possible, but it actually is just the opposite.  As Pico Iyer put it in The Art of Stillness, "Stillness has nothing to do with settledness or statis," but "the point of gathering stillness is...to bring that calm into the motion, the commotion of life."  It's like going on retreat: the point is not to withdraw for withdrawal's sake, but like Jesus (e.g. Matthew 14:23, Luke 5:16), to withdraw for a time in order to renew one's self and so be able to serve more effectively.  A daily practice of stillness makes it all the more possible to have the energy and focus to do what needs to be done and not diffuse energy and focus on distractions.
 
It is a new year, full of peril, full of possibility.  I think time and energy is best served by focusing on possibility!  As Hanh notes, in order to bring a little stillness into the commotion of the day/life, "The first thing to do is to stop whatever else you are doing," then focus on your breathing, then become aware of ("mindful" is the word most often used) and grateful for the incredible gift of being alive.  As this new year continues to unfold, I intend to further nurture the deeper understanding of stillness/silence in order to be able to continue to serve St. Andrew's as well as I can, keeping in mind the wisdom with which Iyer closed his short treatise: In an age of speed, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.  In an age of distraction, nothing can feel more luxurious than paying attention.  And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

— Marc Vance, Associate Rector

Be the light

The season of Epiphany has always been one of my favorites, the twelve days of Christmas behind us, and a new year ahead. The stories of Jesus being revealed---and recognized---- in his divinity. From the visit of the Magi to the Transfiguration, Jesus  is being recognized for who He is.  As He teaches to large crowds, He proclaims to the people assembled to let their lights shine, so that others will see their good works which will glorify  their Father in heaven. These are the words that summon us to be generous as the offertory is announced. These are the words that invite us to go beyond a tithe, or a generous check.

You are the light of the world!  Jesus tells the people on the hillside who have gathered to see this man who it is hoped is the long awaited Messiah,

You are the light of the world !  the Gospel proclaims even to us in this day and time, in the dark days of our calendar year, soon to be lengthened by longer days of light during Lent. So many people in need, evidenced by the swelling numbers , visible to us as we make room for the people served by PORT.

So many disenfranchised people on the margins of our city, homeless, hungry, in need of mental health and medical care, and a warm bed, but so few resources available.

We answer that call as we can, and are privileged to do so, but even more so if we take the time to hear their stories and break bread with our guests at breakfast each day, before they go back out into the world. Bread keeps our bodies going, but friendships, relationships carry the bonus for each of us to give hope, validation and change  lives.

Be the light.

When the song of the Angels is stilled.

When the star in the sky is gone.

When the kings and princes are home.

When the shepherds are back with their flock.

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost.

To heal the broken.

To feed the hungry.

To release the prisoner.

To rebuild the nations

To bring peace among others.

To make music in the heart. 

---Howard Thurman

 

Kathy Gray, Deacon

Longing for the light

Every January, when January 6th finally marks the end of the Christmas season, I immediately miss the YouTube playlists that had been on loop for the past two weeks (James’s is characterized by Vince Guaraldi and Gene Autry, mine by King’s College and *NSYNC). I lament that December is the only month of the year where a large portion of the population gathers around the shared love of a specific group of songs. Even Americans who don’t celebrate Christmas know the first verse of “Joy to the World,” or other secular Christmas classics like “Frosty the Snowman.” When my first child was about one year old I decided to make an Epiphany playlist for our long rides back and forth together to Norfolk. I was determined I could create a collection of songs that would become standard for our family, year after year, just like Christmas.

It didn’t pan out as successfully as I hoped. Turns out  “We Three Kings” is the only Epiphany hymn that has any decent recordings of it. No good recordings of “Brightest and Best” or… can you name any other “standard” Epiphany hymns off the top of your head? (Choir, you are not allowed to answer!)

Maybe it’s time to think outside the We-Three-Kings box if we want to have more Epiphany standards. We often think of Epiphany as just being about kings and stars, but the lectionary of the whole season encourages us to look for light in the dark. Where is God shining a light right now, and how can we be that light for others?
 
And so, I offer the best of my 2017 Epiphany Playlist for your reflection (or amusement?). You’ll be able to find all of these on YouTube or Apple Music. Who knows, maybe we’ll start a movement!
 
Shine, Jesus, Shine, recorded by The Faith Crew
This is already a well-known hymn and this recording will have you on your feet, ready to dance (and spread the light of Christ) in a flash.
 
Midnight Special
Refrain: Let the midnight special shine a light on me.
“Midnight Special” has its roots in the African American community in the post Civil War South. It became a national sensation in the 1960s by artists like Creedence Clearwater Revival. The Midnight Special is the name of a passenger train, and the song is about people (originally, African American men) facing injustice and wishing the train would pick them up and carry them to a better place.
 
Christ, Be Our Light, by Bernadette Farrell
“Christ, Be Our Light,” has been in several major denominational hymnals since it was published in 1993. I hope we’re next!
Verse one: Longing for light, we wait in darkness. Longing for truth, we turn to you. Make us your own, your holy people, light for the world to see.
 
This Little Light of Mine, recorded by Sam Cooke
Another hymn standard that should be an Epiphany staple. Sam Cooke was a Gospel singer-turned-pop-sensation, with billboard hits in the 50’s and 60’s you know. This recording will inspire us adults to think of this song as more than just a song from our Vacation Bible School days.
 
What have I missed? What songs about light made it onto your Epiphany playlist? Wherever you are–longing for light or ready to shine it–I wish you a blessed and holy Epiphany.
 
Ginny Chilton, Minister of Music