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…some things are mysterious because they are shrouded and enigmatic. But other things are mysterious because, like the sun, they are so real, so apparent, so obvious that I cannot gaze directly into them…
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“The Last of the Spirits”, illustration for Charls Dickens’ Christmas Carol by John Lech
The word “nice” is a rotten term. Originally it meant “foolish,” being an English word composed of two Latin terms: “ne” (“not”) and “scire” (“to know”). Over time it developed in meaning to its current form meaning something like “kind” or “good” but without any of the substance of kindness or goodness (see the entry for “Nice” at the Online Etymology Dictionary).
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Listening to Dcn. Ben chant the Magnificat on Sunday, after hearing the whole story of redemption from Genesis to Revelation, I was reminded of a scene from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Return of the King:
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p/c KaLisa Veer via unsplash
There is a lot of talk today about “un-hurrying” and of “resting.” The general sentiment seems to be that we do not know how to rest in society today. I think that, generally, this is true. We are increasingly anxious, inundated, exhausted, and fatigued. And that is not how God meant for things to be. That is also not how he has called us, Christians, to live. I do have an increasing concern, however, that much of what is offered as alternatives to our over-labored condition is actually not rest —actually makes the problem worse. Advent gives us a good time to re-orient ourselves towards biblical rest, and not merely to the bundle of sabbath-less practices on offer in consumer culture which, while masquerading as rest, only make our restlessness worse. As we continue to journey through Advent I’d like to offer a couple of reflections on ways in which, this season, we can enter more fully into God’s rest.
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What is this?
Anglican worship ends with this surging rush of Gospel mission. Having come up to the Lord’s Table and feasted with Him, we are sent-out with his benediction into the world, filled with the Spirit, set-ablaze with his love, shod with his peace, armed with his Word, “Therefore let us go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the spirit” says the deacon. “Thanks be to God!” we cry aloud. This is not a safe thing, a quiet departure, a slow shuffling out the door, it is not a liturgical way of saying “you-don’t-have-to-go-home-but-you-can’t-stay-here.” It is the marching song of martyrs –a word means “witness” …
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Honore Daumier, The Heavy Burden
“The local church is not the place where we are free from “being burdens” to one another, it is the place in which God calls us to carry one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ” …
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Sauron, dark Lord of Mordor, is a “wise fool.” His knowledge and cunning is great, but he reckons wrong because he reckons only according to his own scales — of power, control, and anxiety. Sauron learns that the Ring is abroad and calculates carefully:
Read more“He supposes that we are all going to Minas Tirith [the great stronghold city of the “good guys”]; for that is what he himself would have done in our place. And according to his wisdom, it would have been a heavy stroke against his power. Indeed he is in great fear, not knowing what mighty one may suddenly appear, wielding the Ring, and assailing him with war, seeking to cast him down and take his place.”
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This Friday folks from All Saints Honolulu and folks from Saint Benedict Hall (and folks whose families span both worlds) will gather to spend a little over an hour together in song and fellowship. It’s also the eve of the day that we remember King David Kalākaua, the “Merrie Monarch” who brought back to Hawaii much in the way of song and dance. In an age such as ours we are justified in asking why we might spend a Friday night this way. With all the digital technology to render private listening “as good or better” than in-person singing we are often tempted to think that the goal of music is to be heard. But that is a cheating lie, it only tells a half truth. The goal of music is not only to be heard, the goal of music is also to be made. Just as there is a joy in baking as much as there is in eating cake, so also there is a joy in singing as much as there is in hearing song.
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How does one pray on election day? I get this question a lot and as of late I find myself always encouraging people to pray the psalter. The general protest is usually revealing: “the psalms are just words of encouragement… election day needs something political.” This is just factually inaccurate. There are encouraging Psalms, of course. But the whole book is a deeply political series of songs and prayers. They have offered and do offer God’s people his words to pray over circumstances which are beyond our immediate control (e.g. I alone cannot determine the election… that is precisely what an election is). I can cast a vote. I can do a myriad of advocacy things. But the election itself is an event which exceeds my vote and my activism. The Psalter offers us a liturgical remedy: eternal prayers, sung and prayed before the living God, songs which are both the Christ’s songs and Church’s songs, which lift my election anxiety from the ballot to the throne room of heaven.
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There is a series of days which exists in the Church’s calendar which has all but disappeared from the Christian calendars of contemporary American Christianity save for one lingering event: trick-or-treating on Halloween.
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