In their book, “The Christmas Journey,” author Sally Fisher and illustrator Douglas Sardo, offer an imaginative retelling of the story of the three kings from today’s Gospel. Fisher’s inspiration for the tale was her visits to see her grandmother in New York City at Christmastime. Every year, as she was growing up, they would go the Metropolitan Museum of Art to see the famous Christmas tree and creche. The 20 foot tree is magnificently lit and looms over a gorgeous nativity scene with a multitude of life-like figures and glorious angels hovering above on the tree. The figures depict Naples’ multi-cultural population in the 18th century. After Fisher and her grandmother shared this annual ritual, they would go back to her grandmother’s apartment and she would tell her granddaughter her own story of the journey of the tree, the angels, and all of the people and animals beneath the tree. Fisher’s book is her remembrance of the tale that enchanted her so much, a story that sparked her own curiosity and wonder about how to make meaning of today’s Gospel. What follows is my retelling of her story. I shared it with you for the first time several years ago. Wonderful stories are worthy of being told over and over again. They invite us to come along and learn something new every time we hear them.
Read MorePoetry, beauty and wonder. That is what this morning is about. Our souls long for the profound mystery at the heart of Christmas, the gloriously impossible reality that God’s power and God’s love came to us as a little child. God’s ways are clearly not our ways. We come together today as people who walk in a land of deep darkness. There is so much right now that threatens our sense of well-being. But into that deep darkness, a light has shined, “for a child has been born for us, a son given to us.”
Read MoreToday’s Gospel is the beautiful story of two women caught up in the mystery and wonder of God. Both are carrying sons who are divinely commissioned by God to bring about God’s purposes for the world.
Elizabeth is carrying John the Baptist, the one who will prepare the way for Jesus. And her cousin Mary, is pregnant with Jesus, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. Both are miraculous pregnancies. Elizabeth was thought to be beyond child-bearing years, and yet she and her husband are expecting a son. And Mary, her much younger, unmarried cousin, is carrying a child that she conceived after an angel announced that she would be bear God’s Son. Mary and Elizabeth are participants in God’s work of salvation, and when they meet, they are immediately aware that their lives are intertwined in a way that goes beyond their understanding.
Read MoreOn this Third Sunday in Advent, there are no more fitting words than “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say , Rejoice.” Christmas is just two weeks away and we look forward to gathering on Christmas Eve for beautiful worship services, either here or with family and friends elsewhere, to celebrate the Feast of the Nativity, and the coming of Christ to be with us in the flesh. There is no greater joy than that. And this afternoon, we will get a sneak preview of Christmas with our Lessons and Carols service, where we will be together with fellow Saint Georgians and with people from the larger community to experience this lovely treasure from our Anglican tradition. If you didn’t get a chance to see our Minister of Music, Dr. Ben Keseley’s, Dragon Bytes article in video form this past Thursday, I highly recommend watching it when you get home today. Ben recorded it inside the organ chamber and it’s both educational and funny. I was especially interested to learn that the first Lessons and Carols service was held in 1880 on Christmas Eve at 10 pm and was intended to keep people “out of the teeming public houses,” a.k.a. rowdy, crowded bars.
Read Morehis summer my husband Nick and I traveled through West Virginia for a week-long summer vacation. We entered West Virginia on highway 55 (US 48) headed toward Blackwater Falls State Park. As we drove on Rt 55, I was in awe at how flat and smooth the road was as we headed across the mountain range. The highway led us over tree covered valleys with beautiful rushing streams and rivers. As we gazed up at the mountaintops we saw hundreds of windmills that I am told power Northern Virginia. This highway through these rugged mountains, forests and streams was awe inspiring. It reminded me of the Isaiah 40 passage in our gospel reading that speaks of making a level, straight and smooth path so the glory of the Lord will be revealed.
Read MoreWow, this has been quite the last couple of weeks! The aftermath of the presidential election has left some of our fellow Americans feeling completely elated and triumphant, and others altogether bereft and discouraged about our future as a nation. And most people in Arlington and here at Saint George’s are in the latter group. Roughly 80% of voters registered in Arlington voted for Vice-President Kamala Harris and roughly 20% voted for President-elect Trump. But whomever we voted for, whether we voted with the majority of Americans overall or whether we voted with the majority of people in Arlington, we can all agree that this is the most consequential election of our lifetimes to date. When people are having a hard time agreeing on much of anything right now, we can all generally agree about that, whichever political perspective we are speaking from, that this election signals a major shift in direction. There will be a lot of changes and yet we do not know for sure what initiatives will come to fruition. There is so much uncertainty right now and human beings do not deal very well with uncertainty. So it is especially important for us to be reminded of how we are called to live as Christians during this time. And our reading from Hebrews today has a lot of wisdom to offer us.
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