12/09/08 From the DOD:
I have really been enjoying our Monday lunch time Advent Study. It’s called The Scriptures Sing of Christmas and it is by J. Ellsworth Kalas. He admits he wrote this book out of two lifelong prejudices. The first is toward Christmas and the second toward music. In the first lesson we focused on “Mary’s Song” (The Magnificat, Luke 1:46-55). The second was “Concert in a Field” (the shepherds and the angels, Luke 2:8-14). This past Monday, we studied a story I was not familiar with. It was “An Old Man Sings” (Simeon with the infant Jesus in the Temple, Luke 2:25-35). We touched on some very interesting points in this story and I’d like to share one of Kalas’ insights. He reminded us that believing is easier for you and me. We’ve had a lot of time to see the wonder of Christmas at work and have heard many stories about the lives that have been changed as a result of this unique event on which we base the structure of our calendar. “And we have that subtle advantage of mystical and theological detachment, so that we’re untroubled by the obvious humanness of a little baby. But Simeon looked at a baby who to all apparent evidence was like any other baby, and at parents who differed from other parents only in that they were less prepossessing than most. Looking at the ordinary, Simeon saw the extraordinary; observing the obvious, he saw the miraculous. Thomas Carlyle once said that the degree of vision that dwells in a person is the correct measure of that person. By Carlyle’s measure, Simeon was a giant among us humans.” Times are uncertain right now. People of the world are experiencing a palpable sense of despair. But you know what? We are not of the world. We are of Christ. The back wall of our sanctuary is not lined with banners that read: Sorrow, Animosity, Fear, and Chaos. They read: Joy, Love, Hope, and Peace. As Christians and Disciples of Christ we are called to be a part of the solution. My prayer for you and for me is that we be filled with the vision of Simeon. May you be filled with the joy, love, hope, and peace of Christ who is our salvation, Rachel “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” Luke 2:29-32 (King James Version)