The Sun Returns

Sunrise on the 10th Day of Christmas
The Winter Solstice was two weeks ago and Earth's perihelion is today. Is it just a coincidence that the Earth is closest to the Sun a mere two weeks after the shortest day? Yes, mostly, kind of. It was not ever thus; it will not be ever so, just as the North Star will not always be Polaris, no matter how constant it may seem to be in our day and age.

I'm reminded of that mystical line in "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing," when the Messiah arrives "Late in time." Or even better, the closing stanza of "It Came Upon the Midnight Clear":

For lo!, the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold . . .
(Wikipedia & The New Oxford Book of Carols give this version)

For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophets seen of old,
When with the ever-circling years
Shall come the time foretold . . .
(this version from the Episcopal Hymnal &
The Reader's Digest Merry Christmas Songbook)

Lyrics by Edmund H. Sears (1810 - 1876)

Peter, Paul, and Mary capture the mystery in their prophetic lyrics:

And the wisemen spoke of peace on earth,
Of harmony and struggle.
Know you now a cycle's gone and a new one is revealed
In the weaving of your fingers . . .
We are "invited by our culture and by the shortened days to a time of reflection" (Peter Bunder). On one of the darkest nights, the Child is born. Fast away the old year passes, and the days hasten on. A fortnight later, the Wise Men arrive, the days lengthen visibly, and we shift our focus to yet another ever - circling year.

Lo, We Abhor Not

Playing now . . .
Best anti - war / protest song I know.
My friend Cate and I had to laugh when we read / heard about the detrimental effects of hearing too many happy holiday songs too early in the season. We're the exact opposite, always ready for a therapeutic "Jingle Bell Rock." I'm sorry for those who can't bear it, but as for me and my house, we will serve Christmas Music!

A few years back, I didn't hesitate when asked the curious question: "What is the soundtrack of your life?" Easy! It's all Christmas music, all the time: Karen Carpenter, Arthur Fiedler, Henry Mancini, Lawrence Welk, John Williams, Stevie Wonder, Ida Zecco.

As October gives way to November gives way to December; as Halloween gives way to Thanksgiving gives way to Christmas, I begin craving all the old familiar tunes! I don't even need to jot down any specific favorites, because I love them all --

well, with a couple of brief exceptions. First of all, I believe in the separation of church and state and gynecology. Thus, my beliefs require that I omit the lines "offspring of a virgin's womb" ("Hark! the Herald Angels Sing") & "Lo, he abhors not the Virgin’s womb" ("O, Come All Ye Faithful"). Nor am I alone in finding these to be some of the worst Christmas carol lyrics ever. Second of all, "Baby It's Cold Outside" -- just say no!

But aside from having to work around these sexist glitches, the melodies bring back the good old days and the harmonies restore my faith in humankind.

Presents from Cate
Around this same time last year, I wrote to Cate: "I'm trying to feel festive about taking all the Halloween things down to the basement and bringing up all the Christmas decorations. But somehow I just feel so sad -- about Thanksgiving being over and missing the boys; about my mom and getting old; and about the election and wondering if the Messiah will ever come to this Earth.

"On the bright side, I'm listening to all the Advent CDs you put together for me -- the gift that keeps on giving -- and listening to Carole King's "Beautiful" --

'I have often asked myself the reason for sadness
In a world where tears are just a lullaby
If there's any answer, maybe love can end the madness
Maybe not, oh, but we can only try
You've got to get up every morning with a smile on your face
And show the world all the love in your heart . . . '

Cate replied: 'The Messiah is here. Inside of each of us who trusts the Divine. Here in faith, here in love, here in you. More later.'"

I also had to share with Cate a related observation for the Advent Season, from the Rev. Peter Bunder:

"Jesus did not come so that we could spend the entire month of November and December racing around like crazy, getting ready for Christmas. He came to give us the same message that the angel Gabriel brought to The Virgin Mary: Blessed Are You Among Women!" [see also Labor Day & Annunciazione]

Yes, that's it! That's what the incessant Christmas music tells me -- that I am blessed among women. But I guess for some, the music tells them to race around like crazy. Sad! As for Cate and me, we are ready and have been for months now. Bring on the music! We abhor it not!

Indigo Girls ~ Holly Happy Days! ~ "There's Still My Joy"

First Day of a New Year

Thanks to Maggie Mesneak Wick
for posting this sweet card,
to Peter Bunder for the excerpt from Sanders,
and to Gerry McCartney for typing it up!
"I write these last few paragraphs on the first day of a new year. Thin snow covers our patch of Indiana and the day has dawned clear. With early sunlight streaming through the windows, Ruth and I take down the Christmas decorations, wrap the homemade ornaments in tissue paper, loop the colored lights into bundles, and store everything away in the attic. I carry the tree out the back door and across the yard, leaving a trail of needles the whole way . . .

" 'Memory grips the past' as my friend wrote to me, 'and hope grips the future.' I think of the scarlet seeds quietly burning against the cold, black dirt, waiting for spring. I think of my children, and of the children they may have one day, and of those children's children, on and on, like the ridge upon ridge of mountains stretching out before me as far as I can see.

"I think of my students hard at work, learning what our clever species has already discovered, and adding their own new knowledge to the store. I imagine the host of ancestors, humans and non-humans, whose lives and labors have made this moment possible for those of us who breathe. I draw a breath, savor it, and bless them all" (190).

from Hunting for Hope
by Scott Russell Sanders

Composed of Mystery

Girl in Front of Mirror
Pablo Picasso, 1881 - 1973


"There is nothing in nature that does not reflect the Trinity:
each of us is an icon of the Trinity."
The Rev. Peter J. Bunder
I keep thinking about the juxtaposition of these two paintings in the Trinity Sunday Bulletin a couple of weeks ago at the Chapel of the Good Shepherd ~ The Episcopal Campus Ministry at Purdue.

Two nearly contemporary artists treat the same subject matter -- a girl before a mirror, absorbed in her reflection. Yet each, in his own distinctive style, captures a different aspect of reflective contemplation. Rockwell's girlish subject daydreams apprehensively of the not - so - distant future while Picasso's visionary subject strives to embrace the fragmented mystery of life at the present moment.

Girl at Mirror
Norman Rockwell, 1894 - 1978


We are composed of mystery:
"The mystery beyond us, the mystery among us,
and the mystery within us are all the same mystery."
from Listening to Your Life
by Frederick Buechner (b 1926)

Remember to Vote!

Why I Voted the Socialist Ticket
I am unjust, but I can strive for justice.
My life’s unkind, but I can vote for kindness.
I, the unloving, say life should be lovely.
I, that am blind, cry out against my blindness.

Man is a curious brute — he pets his fancies —
Fighting mankind, to win sweet luxury.
So he will be, tho’ law be clear as crystal,
Tho’ all men plan to live in harmony.

Come, let us vote against our human nature,
Crying to God in all the polling places
To heal our everlasting sinfulness
And make us sages with transfigured faces.

by American Poet, Vachel Lindsay, 1879 - 1931
from General William Booth Enters into Heaven, and Other Poems

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE, MAY 2011:

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