O Holy Night & the Scourge of Slavery

       Front cover of the 6th edition of "Cantique de Noël", 1852 (original name for O Holy Night) 

 3 Truly He taught us to love one another;

His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break, for the slave is our brother,
And in His name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we;
Let all within us praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! O praise His name forever!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!
His pow’r and glory evermore proclaim!

                                    O Holy Night verse 3

As anticipated, the Christmas hymn that won the Trenton United Clash of the Carols was O Holy Night -- decidedly not my choice. Rev. Isaac used the sermon time to talk about this carol and the runner up, In the Bleak Midwinter before we sang the winner. 

He explained that it was written by Adolphe Adam on request from the writer who had penned the original poem in the 1840s. I discovered later that the carol writer was an atheist which didn't sit well with the Roman Catholic establishment.There were Protestant churches which wouldn't sing it because it was perceived as Catholic.  It also included a passionate criticism of slavery which meant that the English translation version was embraced by abolitionists in the United States and rejected by those who were pro-slavery. 

Afterward I thought about the many ways of defining slavery, an evil reality to the present day. Both Trenton and Belleville are communities along the 401 highway corridor known as a conduit for sex trafficking, a sort of oppressive bondage that tends to be hidden in plain sight. From time to time there are news items from these two towns about young women who have been freed from this form of modern-day slavery. 

Fortunately we weren't asked to literally "fall on our knees" (first verse) as we sang yesterday. Our congregation is of a general age that many of us might still be there waiting for help to get back up. 

Despite all these hurdles, through the decades O Holy Night has been persistently popular, often with soloists who want to display their vocal chops. I'm grateful that it isn't in our worship resource, Voices United, but the history of the carol is interesting and the people have spoken!

Finding Shelter in the Bleak Midwinter

 

1 In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,

earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;

snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,

in the bleak midwinter, long ago.

2 Our God, heaven cannot hold him, nor earth sustain;

heaven and earth shall flee away when he comes to reign;

in the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed

the Lord God almighty, Jesus Christ.

                                      Voices United 55

I mentioned along the way that Trenton United has been involved in Clash of the Carols just before worship begins during Advent. It gives folks the opportunity to vote for a favourite Christmas carol in an elimination format that's fun, although there are some who take it all fairly seriously. Two weeks ago our almost-12-year-old grandson was shocked that I hadn't chosen O Holy Night over In the Bleak Midwinter. His expression suggested that he was now convinced that dementia had set in. We were pleasantly surprised that he cared about the competition. I appreciate the poetry of Bleak Midwinter even if Jesus likely wasn't born in this season, as well as the tune. O Holy Night is so, well, melodramatic!

This morning it was -20C in these parts, our coldest start to a day since last Winter. I thought of those across this province who were "sleeping rough" last night in homeless encampments and on city vents. There are Warming Centres in a lot of communities now and when we arrive at church today the centre at Trenton UC will have closed for another night. While people can shelter from the cold they are officially not supposed to be places where they sleep or eat -- such a strange concept for an overnight arrangement. Our congregational volunteers do their best to make guests feel welcome. 

                                                 Homeless Jesus sculpture -- Timothy Schmalz

Yesterday Ruth and I did our monthly delivery of baked goods from Cobs Bakery and Metro to Bridge St UC. As we approached the church a fellow was meandering along the street wrapped in a sleeping bag carrying a big bag of worldly possessions. It was cold yesterday as well and as I awakened today I thought of him and others on the street. Earlier this year this stretch was the epicentre of news about drug overdoses in the province and the grim reality of opioid addcition. Intense cold adds the risk of injury or death from exposure. 

Today Rev. Isaac will reflect on these two hymns and I'll certainly continue my prayers for those who have dealt with the bitter weather overnight, In the Bleak Midwinter. 

                                                    In front of Bridge St. UC earlier this year

Winning the Winter Solstice Lottery

 

                                   

                                                                          Newgrange, Ireland 

A substantial crowd gathered at Newgrange in Ireland today to recognize the Winter Solstice. Newgrange is a 5,000+ year-old monument, perhaps a grave (bones were found here), older than Stonehenge and the pyramids of Egypt. There is a passageway that is aligned so that on this solstice of shortest daylight hours the wan sunlight will stream along it, providing that there is any "in the bleak midwinter." Unfortunately it was cloudy for most of the 17 minute window, as it often is, although there was a brief period of illumination.How did those who constructed this astronomical calendar figure it out so precisely millennia ago?  

Newgrange has become so popular amongst those desiring to get in touch with their inner Druid that tickets are sold for entry throughout the year. For this event most people  are gathered in the vicinity except for 16 who win the lottery to actually enter the chamber. 

While lots of Christians might be inclined to make the sign of the cross at this pagan recognition we don't need to feel this way. It's said that the success of the early Christians in Ireland, including Patrick, came from a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" reciprocity where the goodness of Creator and Creation was celebrated, establishing common ground. There are delightful legends for lots of the Celtic saints who lived as "Green martyrs" amidst the birds and creatures of the wild. The seasons and rhythms of the Earth were acknowledged and celebrated. 

It's unlikely that Jesus was born in late December but the early Roman Christians may well have celebrated his birth around the Saturnalia festival recognizing the beginning of longer dayss in order to avoid drawing attention to their Christ-mass. 

This morning we went for a walk along our Belleville waterfront to acknowledge the Winter Solstice. It was frosty -- -11C -- and a bit breezy but the sun was shining and ice was re-forming on the Bay of Quinte. It felt as though we had won the lottery and both of us were grateful for the world into which God the Creator entered in the person of Jesus, the Christ. Thank God for Creation with all its wonders. 

“In the infinity of night skies, in the free flashing of lightning, in whirling elemental winds you are God. 

 In the impenetrable mists of dark clouds, in the wild gusts of lashing rain, in the ageless rocks of the sea you are God and I bless you.  

You are in all things and contained by no thing.  You are the Life of all life and beyond every name.  You are God and in the eternal mystery I praise you.”

An Evening Prayer from Celtic Prayer John Philip Newell 

Wayfinders Searching for the Messiah

 

In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem,  asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east and have come to pay him homage.”  

When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him, and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah[c] was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet:

 ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
    are by no means least among the rulers of Judah,
for from you shall come a ruler
    who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

 Then Herod secretly called for the magi and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared... Matthew 2:1-7 NRSVue

In recent weeks  Rev. Isaac at Trenton United (our son) has been exploring the story of the Magi, moving the journey theme forward into Advent. Many of us are aware of these astronomers/astrologers following a star to find the place of birth of Jesus, "King of the Jews." The evil ruler Herod wants to know the exact place of this star so he can dispose of this child he perceives as a rival. The word "star" is used four times to describe this heavenly body in the passage found in Matthew's gospel.

As it happens I have been musing a lot of late about the Wayfinders of other cultures who navigate by the stars, prompted first of all by a somewhat tangential theme in Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner, one of the celebrated novels of 2024. A character is fascinated by the Polynesians, peoples of the Pacific Ocean who were exceptional navigators across great expanses using star paths, along with knowledge of patterns of winds, waves, and currents. These "sailor priests" had no instruments such as astrolabes and sextants yet astounded explorers such as Captain Cook with the depth of their knowledge and skill.

 

Then came another wonderful novel, Playground by the great Richard Power. He too sets much of his story in Polynesia and muses about these navigators who were and are vaunted in their culture as almost mystical shamans. 

I went rooting around in the book of essays called --you guessed it - The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World, by the award-winning anthropologist Wade Davis. I have a sneaking suspicion that Rachel Kushner drew on this book for inspiration. 

Last but not least I watched, for the first time, the animated film Moana, the original rather than the sequel. Even though some Indigenous critics decry these films as the disneyfication of Polynesian culture and spirituality the story is of a plucky Polynesian girl who learns the way of the stars and constellations for the sake of her land-locked people.

This may seem like a far cry from our images of Wise Men crossing a desert on camels (there are no camels in Matthew), yet the combination of courage, ancient knowledge, and mystery resonate. 

We are all invited to set out from convention and certainty to be Wayfinders. I hope we can be Christ-finders in this season, no matter how familiar the stories may seem. 

The Ten Commandments...Priceless?

 

Then God spoke all these words, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;  you shall have no other gods before[a] me.

“You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation[b] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

 “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work.  But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and consecrated it. Exodus 20

A marble tablet containing the Ten Commandments was sold at auction yesterday and realized five million USD, far above the estimate of one to two million. Would Moses have been impressed, given that this wasn't an original?  According to Al Jazeera:

The tablet dates from 300 to 800 AD and is inscribed with the commandments in Paleo-Hebrew script — the only complete example of its kind from antiquity, according to Sotheby’s.It was unearthed during railroad excavations along the southern coast of Israel in 1913 and was not recognised as historically significant at first. Sotheby’s said the tablet was used as a paving stone at a local home until 1943, when it was sold to a scholar who grasped its significance.

There is a certain irony here given that the Ten Commandments are no longer posted in public places (it is important to separate church and state) and rarely referred to even in religious settings. I wonder when any of us have heard or preached a series on the Ten "Suggestions"? I wasn't sure if I ever did but a document search unearthed that I offered a series of sermons and a study series on the subject in days of yore (2010). 

There is a further irony that some conservative Christians and legislators in the US are insisting that they be reintroduced in courts and classrooms even as there has been a rash of #MeToo-style "outings" of evangelical leaders for sexual impropriety -- would they be posted with a fingers-crossed symbol in front of "thou shalt not commit adultery"? 

Let's keep the irony rolling with the thought of a passel of nomads wandering in the wilderness and their beleagured leader being called up a mountain so that Yahweh, the God of Israel, could provide them with a moral code. The story is remarkable when you consider it, regardless of what you think about the actual theophany aspect. While these commandments would be "priceless" for more than three thousand years they have been devalued in terms of their application in every day life. Now this tablet of questionable provenance has been commodified and sold to the highest bidder. 

We might keep in mind that Moses went up the mountain for the commandments and ended up smashing the first set because when he came back down the people of Israel had created the Golden Calf as an idol. Moses also destroys the idol made of melted down jewelry although after he calms down he ascends for the second set of tablets. Note that this cautionary story is in the Jewish Torah, the Quran of Islam, and the Christian scriptures. Maybe we should turn our attention to the importance of the commandments as an important element of our moral compass in a society that seems to be wandering in the wilderness. 

You are hereby cautioned not to covet or steal your neighbours' Christmas inflatables. 

 “Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 “You shall not murder.

 “You shall not commit adultery.

 “You shall not steal.

 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, male or female slave, ox, donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

Joy & Living Beyond Anxiety

 

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 

Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7 NRSVue

I noticed that one of the scripture readings for this past Sunday was the few verses from the New Testament letter that are one of my middle-of-the-night mantras. I repeat then for comfort when the problems of the world are amplified and scenarios of dread rise up even though they would seem foolish in the light of day. 

It begins with an invitation to joy with a promise that God is at hand. Then there is the phrase that is a bit of a jolt. Don't be anxious about anything? Really?! Still, this is a powerful statement in a time when we anxious about just about everything; the economy, the climate crisis, violence and wars, the Orange One...killer bagged carrots, for cryin' out loud. 

It shouldn't come as a surprise to hear from Christianity Today that bible search apps offers this info for 2024: 

Philippians 4:6 was the most shared, bookmarked, and highlighted passage on the YouVersion Bible app and was named its 2024 verse of the year:  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Philippians 4 was also the most read New Testament chapter on BibleGateway.com. Overall, the site’s annual rankings skew toward the Psalms, which represent nearly all of the top 25 verses. BibleGateway’s most read verse was Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Hey, if we have comfort foods, why not comfort verses? I'm also inclined to repeating (silently)  the 23rd Psalm in the wee hours although it can get a little comical keeping the phrases straight in my groggy state. 

I also regularly visit Matthew 6 where Jesus comments about God's love for the birds of the air, the flowers of the field, and us. This passage ends with verse 34: 

 So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Amen. 

Back to the Future in Jerusalem

 

                                                                    

                                                                      from Christianity Today

As we rambled around the old city of Jerusalem in April of 2023 I was aware of how little and how much had changed since I was last there 30 years before. The Western Wall and various gates were enduring landmarks along with other key sites. The watery Siloam Tunnel can still be traversed by the brave and not-so-tall. 

Yet there has been constant excavation and discovery at different levels. A parking lot where our coach sat alongside others years ago is now an extensive archeological site. The first time I visited the area to the south of the Al Aksa Mosque was a hillside with some buildings. A few years later steps were being unearthed leading to the Temple Mount. Now this area can be explored by visitors and there is a thrill to be able walk up the broad steps that Jesus and his disciples used to gain access to the magnificent temple plaza created by Herod. 

                                                                 South Steps to the Temple Mount

So much is deep underground though, in many layers of civilization and destruction. Much of it is next to impossible to access because of the buildings above. Sectarian and religious tensions preclude serious archeological efforts. 

I just read an interesting article in Christianity Today about the use of muon detectors (you know, muon detectors!) to boldly go where archeology nerds have never gone before. Here are a few paragraphs:

Now, however, physicists have come up with a new way to dig without digging: muography.Muons are tiny subatomic particles that are everywhere on earth, according to physicists. They are created when cosmic rays smash into the Earth’s atmosphere, showering the surface of the planet with about 10,000 of the particles per square meter. 

In recent years, scientists have figured out how to use muon detectors to map inaccessible subterranean cavities, creating images of rooms inside Egyptian pyramids and magma chambers deep in volcanoes. Now they’re using them to map the streets Jesus once walked in ancient Jerusalem. 

Last year, a team of Tel Aviv University archaeologists and physicists shoehorned an unwieldy homemade muon detector—you can’t buy one from a store—into a rocky cavern close to the Gihon Spring in the Kidron Valley. They placed another detector behind a rocky bulwark called the Stepped Stone Structure. Then they pointed them both toward the Temple Mount and turned them on.

Here’s how they work: Muons have about 10,000 times the energy of a typical x-ray. They can easily pass through rock and earth—and anything less dense, like plants and people—but the denser the material they pass through, the quicker they lose their energy. 

When muons hit the detectors with different energy levels, an image can be created of the density of the matter through which they passed. Empty spaces are easily distinguished. And archaeologists can “see” underground.

The use of this technology is in its infancy, it is expensive to build a muon detector, and they have significant limitations in that the spaces they find have to be interpreted. Still, it will add to the ever expanding toolbox used by researchers. It all sounds rather "Back to the Future", doesn't it? 

 Will it help people from the three monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam live in peace? That's probably too much to ask. Yahweh/God/Allah will need to effect a metaphysical miracle that goes beyond any technological innnovation from the realm of physics.