Let the Earth Sing

From Psalm 98

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming to judge the earth...

At this Christmas celebratory time, I love those psalms that speak about the earth singing and clapping hands.

All creation is singing hymns.

I love to sing and there seem to be more opportunities to sing at Christmas than at other times of year. However, I struggle with the words of many of our favorite Christmas carols.

As I mentioned in the last post, I’ve connected with hymns written by Aussie, George Stuart, who is writing new words to well-known hymn tunes. George describes his theology as progressive, a term that is being bandied around to mean something more to the left of liberal.

See what you think of the traditional words and the alternate words by George:

Away in a Manger

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed


The little Lord Jesus lay down His sweet head


The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay


The little Lord Jesus asleep on the hay.

The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes


But little Lord Jesus, no crying He makes


I love Thee, Lord Jesus, look down from the sky.


And stay by my side until morning is nigh,

Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask Thee to stay


Close by me forever and love me, I pray

to
Bless all the dear children in Thy tender care


And take us to Heaven to live with Thee there

Alternate Lyrics:

Away in a manger, no pillow or bed,

the baby boy Jesus is born in a shed

The stars in the bright sky looked down where he lay

the baby boy Jesus asleep on the hay.

While cattle stand quietly, the baby’s asleep

sought after by shepherds who leave all their sheep

And wise ones bring treasures, they’ve come from afar

to give gifts to Jesus, they followed a star.

Yes, Jesus is near me, I know he will stay

close by me forever and love me each day

He blesses all children, we know we all share

a wonderful friendship in his tender care.

Our Advent Exploration question for today is: What are your thoughts about changing or updating words of hymns?

Understanding God

Isaiah 40:27-31

The Creator of the ends of the earth . . . does not faint or grow weary. God’s understanding is unsearchable. God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Yes, I know, more Isaiah. What can I say? He is a big-time prophet!

What I love about this text is the clear understanding of God and who God supports--the faint and powerless. Where do we get this understanding of God?

I know that many people like to suggest that God’s word came to particular people, like prophets, as the inspired word of God—ideas about God from God directly to us.

I’d like to reverse this messaging system. I suggest that as we open ourselves to God’s Spirit, we try to describe our experiences. Those descriptions are scriptures. A different person writes each scripture. A different community experiences the divine uniquely. Scripture emerges from a different context, a different set of pastoral concerns, and a different set of existential angst.

Val Webb says, “God is imaged metaphorically as Divine Persuasion—call it conscience, heart, ground of being, Love—working within us and the world toward richness and wholeness.”

Divine Persuasion is a lovely name for God—a new one for me.

Hymn writer, George Stuart, offers a hymn based on Webb’s quotation. By the way, George lives in New South Wales, Australia, in the town of Toronto--I knew there was a reason I related to him!

Divine Persuasion urges us, “Make life-enriching choices”

At every time in every place hear silent sacred voices

As thoughts divine direct our ways and with us earth rejoices

We move to wholesomeness enhanced by life-enriching choices.

Divine Intention prompts us to a way of love and justice

The challenges enable us to bring about, through service,

the reign of God, the prize of peace, and all that life can promise

We move to wholesomeness in life by way of love and justice

Divine Involvement permeates the essence of our nature

Provokes, entices, sponsors us to forge a wondrous picture

of human worth and dignity in every race and culture

We move to wholesomeness and find the essence of our nature.

Our Advent Exploration question for today is: What is your name for God? How does that name influence your life?

They Dance Alone

Luke 1:46b-55

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies God, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, who has looked with favor on my lowliness. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is God’s name. God’s mercy is for those who give respect from generation to generation. God has shown strength and scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. God has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly. God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. God has helped Israel by offering mercy, according to promises made to our ancestors, to Abraham and Sarah and to their descendants forever.”

Yes, we are back to the Mary text--the so-called, "Magnificat." I am drawn to this text more than any other part of the Christmas story because of the revolutionary words. In this birth, God has "brought down the powerful" and "lifted up the lowly."

I was reminded of this text when I heard the Sting song, "Dance Alone" played over the sound system of a store. Listen HERE

Perhaps you know the background for this song. Sting is referring to women who dance a two-person Cueca alone.

Two-person Cueca:

Here is an explanation from Emilia Aguilera:

The Widow Cueca:

Year after year a woman is dancing cueca, the Chile’s national dance . . . however she does it alone, dressed in severe black without that usual smile that accompanies this dance.
They have a picture or photo of a husband, lover, son, brother, or father that has gone missing. They are wives, mothers, and sisters of those who can no longer accompany them in the “pie de cueca” (how is called a piece of this dance) because they were arrested during the Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship (since 1973 until 1990), and decades later, they are still waiting for an answer about the whereabouts of their loved ones, at least, to mourn in peace. However, and shamefully, in my country still gives no or much less a decent answer.

Still in Chile the cueca dancing just with the company of a white handkerchief and a portrait of who should be accompanying this stomping.
 

National Day of the Disappeared Detainees
 Santiago de Chile, August 2011 by Emilia Aguilera

The "Widow Cueca:"

Rather than the beatific and beautifully renditions of the Magnificat, I sometimes wonder whether it might be sung as a heart-wrenching version:

To end this reflection on a gentler note, here is poet Joy Cowley's "Modern Magnificat:"

My soul sings in gratitude.

I’m dancing in the mystery of God.

The light of the Holy One is within me

and I am blessed, so truly blessed.

This goes deeper than human thinking.

I am filled with awe

at Love whose only condition

is to be received.

The gift is not for the proud,

for they have no room for it.

The strong and self-sufficient ones

don’t have this awareness.

But those who know their emptiness

can rejoice in Love’s fullness.

It’s the Love that we are made for,

the reason for our being.

It fills our inmost heart space

and brings to birth in us, the Holy One.

Our Advent Exploration question for today is: How do you hear the words of Mary?