Our Father...Advent to Advent

Good Christmas Eve Morning, Friends.

I was reading my new book and had to share some excerpts with you (below). I included 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing' at the end of my post because it is my favorite Christmas song (well, that and 'Once in Royal David's City,' but I decided to only include one of them.)

This morning at 9 AM CST, I will be tuning in to The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols, live from King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England (where it will be 3 PM Christmas Eve), as I do each year. I hope you will do the same. You won't be disappointed, I promise.  Check out the notice from American Public Radio.

Now on to the book excerpt I was telling you about:

"...calling God 'Father' is the great act of faith, of holy boldness, of risk. Saying 'our father' isn't just the boldness, the sheer cheek of walking into the presence of the living and almighty God and saying 'Hi, Dad.' It is the boldness, the sheer total risk, of saying quietly, 'Please may I, too, be considered an apprentice son.' It means signing on for the Kingdom of God... (Emphasis added)


"We live between Advent and Advent; between the first great Advent, the coming of the Son into the world, and the second Advent, when he shall come again in power and glory to judge the living and the dead. That's why Advent is sometimes quite confusing, preparing for the birth of Jesus and at the same time preparing for the time when God makes all things new, when the whole cosmos has its exodus from slavery...

"When we call God 'Father,' we are called to step out, as apprentice children, into a world of pain and darkness. We will find that darkness all around us; it will terrify us, precisely because it will remind us of the darkness inside our own selves. The temptation then is to switch off the news, to shut out the pain of the world, to create a painless world for ourselves. A good deal of our contemporary culture is designed to do exactly that. No wonder people find it hard to pray. But if, as the people of the living creator God, we respond to the call to be his sons and daughters; if we take the risk of calling him Father; then we are called to be the people through whom the pain of the world is held in the healing light of the love of God...

"It is the rhythm of standing in the presence of the pain of the world, and kneeling in the presence of the creator of the world; of bringing those two things together in the name of Jesus and by the victory of the cross; of living in the tension of the double Advent, and of calling God 'Father.'"

- excerpted from The Lord and His Prayer by N.T. Wright  (purchased on Amazon.)

"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”  Luke 1:32-33 

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."  Luke 2:11

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To all my lovely blog friends,

May you have a wonderful and blessed Christmas

as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing'

King's College Choir, Cambridge

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!

Angels with flocked capes

These had belonged to my mom

Merry Christmas Eve Day!

I'm sorry I've been so absent, but I did bring a written excuse from my mother.

First, the tale of my techno woes. Last Friday my cell phone died, or at least wouldn't hold a charge and the phone place doesn't carry my phone any longer. At least they didn't point and laugh at me. But I did come away from there with a much larger, much more complicated phone than what I had gone in with. I know I'll learn it - eventually. The best thing about it is that when I get e-photos of the grandkids, I will actually be able to see what they are, rather than viewing a thumbnail.

THEN, my printer stopped working. No idea what was wrong. So I phoned HP to talk with tech support. After about 15 minutes on the phone with them, they took over my computer and I watched my cursor dart back and forth across the screen for a few minutes.

The guy came back with, 'You have no printer drivers installed on your computer, and several of your files are corrupted.' He said I'd have to get a certified systems engineer to fix the problem. (I guess I thought that was him, right?) Anyway, I told him I'd get our local computer geek to look at it and thank you very much. THEN he said that only certified systems engineer can do this because, and get this, 'We have very expensive equipment to help us fix the problem.' I thanked him and said no.

Avon angels

Then I took the computer to the local computer geek (and I do mean geek. He is insanely smart about computers!)  He looked things over and said my files were not corrupted and all my printer drivers were there. He said I'd been SCAMMED. No! Me??! I couldn't believe it. I was so annoyed, and very glad I hadn't told them they could 'fix' my computer with all their expensive equipment (sounds ominous, doesn't it!)

As it turned out, all that was wrong with my computer was that the USB port that I plugged the printer into was iffy. The printer had always worked, but suddenly it didn't. Evidently it was that crazy port. So after four days of not communicating with any of you, my blogger friends, I did want you to know why you haven't heard from me.

More of Mom's angels. They are bells.

except for the middle one who came from...

Yes, from Bobby! :-)

And now, onto the real subject of this post, the hymn 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!'  If you tune into Minnesota Public Radio this morning at 9 CST, you will hear a live performance of The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols from King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England. It is their Christmas Eve service which begins (in England) at 3 PM in the afternoon. I listen to it by radio every single Christmas Eve morning here in Wisconsin. Check it out on Minnesota Public Radio.

From www.minnesota.publicradio.org

'...the festival has its origins not in Cambridge, but the English city of Truro, where it first saw the light of day in 1880. (note: I wonder if Doc Martin knows this.)


'There have been important changes over the years, but some of the documents describing that first festival have survived. Tomorrow, Dec. 17, the Truro Cathedral will recreate that 1880 event (to the extent possible), Victorian hymns and all. Here's an article in the Guardian that has the details.'  (obviously we're too late for Dec. 17, but we could still read the article. And I'm hoping to find the recording online somewhere.)



I realize that I'm getting far afield from the topic of this blog post, but hang on. The connection is that although some choral selections change from year to year in the Festival's program, the thrilling procession is always marked by 'Once in Royal David's City' and the last hymn is a resounding 'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!' - sung by the choir and the congregation, just before the recessional. Both selections have a beautiful descant on the last verse. I love it. It's always a little sad when it's over.

And if you happen to miss listening to this year's Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols on Minnesota Public Radio, you can pick up the 2010 version at this link on YouTube.  One way or another, I hope you will enjoy this wonderful event as much as I do.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored
Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come
Offspring of a Virgin's womb
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with man to dwell
Jesus, our Emmanuel
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ the Savior is Born!

 Source

This morning, at 9 AM CST I will be listening to A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols live from King's College Chapel in Cambridge, England -  on KSJN (Minnesota Public Radio) OR you can listen HERE (WGBH Classical New England). Please join me!

You can even go to the website and print off the program if you like. This is a wonderful Christmas Eve tradition, with the Biblical account of Creation - Fall - Birth of the Promised Redeemer, through Scripture and carols. Don't miss it.

Source

Choirboys entering Kings College Chapel

on a rainy afternoon

Merry Christmas

Christ the Savior reigns!