Category: advent

Adventy-Christmassy hymn. Slightly recycled.

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This used to be a sonnet, but I’m no Malcom Guite, and before that it was a sermon. Anyway, it occurred to me that I could rewrite it as a hymn for the end of Advent, leading into Christmas. It could be sung to ‘Woodlands’ (Tell out my soul). 

Genuinely would love to know if you think it works. And if you like it, you are welcome to use it!

Words of the prophets since the world began
So long before salvation’s human birth
Speaking of God’s tremendous loving plan
for heav’n to touch the long-estrangèd earth.

Those ancient words at last began to be
in flesh and skin and bone and blood unfurled
In maiden womb and half-made family –
so heaven stooped to touch a fallen world.

Amongst the stable beasts behind the inn,
the baby’s eyes saw first a mother’s love;
and though their world, like ours, was full of sin,
yet in their gaze the earth met heav’n above.

We cry aloud for peace, goodwill to all,
and for God’s heaven to touch his earth again,
We bend our ears to hear the angels’ call,
and raise our voice to join the great Amen.

Christmas song for children

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Here’s an easy Christmas song for children to sing – I must have written it last year and forgotten about it. I’m posting it here in case it’s useful. The tune is ‘Here we go round the mulberry bush’.

Sing of the time the angel came, the angel came, the angel came,
Sing of the time the angel came to bring the news to Mary.

Sing of the birth at Bethlehem, at Bethlehem, at Bethlehem,
Sing of the birth at Bethlehem, the baby in the manger.

Sing of shepherds from the hills, from the hills, from the hills,
Sing of the shepherds from the hills, who came to worship Jesus.

Sing of the brightly shining star, the shining star, the shining star,
Sing of the brightly shining star, that led the kings to Jesus.

Sing of the love of God on earth, God on earth, God on earth,
Sing of the love of God on earth, that brings us close to heaven.

Advent Sunday

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Bring us, O Lord God, at our last awakening
into the house and gate of heaven
to enter into that gate and dwell in that house,
where there shall be no darkness nor dazzling, but one equal light;
no noise nor silence, but one equal music;
no fears nor hopes, but one equal possession;
no ends nor beginnings, but one equal eternity;
in the habitations of thy glory and dominion, world without end. Amen.

So wrote the poet John Donne (1572-1631) in a vision for the ultimate reconciliation between God and God’s creation, especially his beloved and often wayward people.  The poem speaks of a unity that we seek and long for, but may only catch a glimpse of in the here and now. So as we look forward to Christmas, when the birth of Jesus ‘draws us to kneel in wonder at heaven touching earth’, the season of Advent  invites us to experience the reality of contrast and distance. Advent is a season of contrast: between light and darkness, hope and fear, now and not yet. It is the long night that takes us up to the moment just before dawn when everything is as dark and cold as it can be.

And yet, all through Advent we are invited to look for the ways in which God’s reconciliation is chipping away at the world’s hard-heartedness, the ways that the light of God is shining through the cracks in the world’s darkness.  Some years it’s really easy to spot the darkness and hard-heartedness, and really hard to spot the light and the reconciliation. This is undoubtedly one of those years.  But we must continue to look for the moments of redemption, and to  contribute towards the making of more moments, that others may recognise them. For it is these moments, when we perceive them, that remind us that, against the odds, the trajectory of the relationship between earth and heaven is – ultimately – one of reconciliation.

May this season be for us and for the world a time for the power of God’s ultimate reconciliation to break into the conflict and darkness of our time.

 

 

Advent Sunday song

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This song was intended to make a link between the ‘Jesse Tree’ / Salvation History pathway through advent, and the Advent Sunday theme of keeping alert and being ready.  I wrote it ages ago, but am re-posting it on account of it being Advent.
Tune: Sing hosanna

There’s a story to tell of creation,
And the patriarchs’ faith of old,
There are stories of prophets and sages,
We’ll repeat them ‘til the world’s been told:

Sing together! sing together!
Sing to welcome in the King of Kings.
Sing together! Sing together!
Sing to welcome in the King.

There are stories of sin and forgiveness,
Of a Kingdom of truth and love.
Of a girl who gave birth to a baby,
To fulfil God’s promise from above:

As God’s people prepare for his coming,
And remember those days long gone,
Our own stories are yet to be written,
As we live to make God’s kingdom come:

We will patiently wait for the morning,
Through the night we will watch and pray,
As we look for the light that is dawning,
We’ll be ready at the break of day:

Love Life Live Advent – 20th December – look at a candle flame

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advent calendar candleMy daughter was baptised on 31st October (to be fair, it was a Sunday that year, and we were celebrating All Saints) so every year her lovely godparents give her (and us) something to do during Advent. Often it is one of those lovely candles that you light every evening, burning about a quarter of an inch of it while you eat your dinner. I am particularly impressed that they managed to post the candle to us and that it arrived in one piece, having traveled several thousand miles to do so!

It’s a lovely tradition, and we’ve done rather better with it this year than last; because I am not working in the evenings, we have eaten a lot more meals together as a family, and we’ve shared this beautiful candle flame every night.  It’s generated some lovely questions from the children about what all the ‘name of Jesus’ actually mean.  Some they know well (Good Shepherd, Prince of Peace) while some are less familiar (Lion of Judah). There is always plea, ‘Can I strike the match to light it this time?’ and a firm, parental, ‘no’; there is also a brief, generally good-natured tussle about who will get to blow it out.

But mostly we love the flame. We love how it reminds us that it’s Advent, and that it’s special. We love how lighting a candle makes our dinners feel special, even if we’re eating mash and beans. We even bought it a candle stick from the thrift store, so that the light from the flame could be reflected by the shiny brass.

And we love how when we blow it out, the smoke twists and swirls to fill the room, and yet just stops short of setting the alarm off.

A candle means all these things.  Enjoy one today – and every day until the Light of Christ comes into the world.