Handel's Messiah Sung at St. John's

On Tuesday night there was a singing of Handel's great Messiah.  It was standing room only and filmed for use by CBS with the possibility that some of it might be used as a montage on their Christmas eve and Christmas programming.  Dr. Anthony Antolini and Marion Gray were the conductors. Here are some pictures of the event.

dec 24 advent devotional

December 24:  Revelation 22:17  The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let everyone who is thirsty come.  The Christmas story is often acted out by people in the church in pageants and dramas. It is a story begging to be staged. The Church service, or what we call our ‘liturgy’, is a weekly drama in which we participate. We are the actors and God the audience. And just as in any play, when the actors and the audience connect, it can be magic. The acting or “play” is important, as any play is important. It is a way in which we can practice in a safe environment, those things we will need later on. It is a way to establish good habits and healthy patterns, and for everyone to have experience. Just as firefighters drill with their equipment, so that when fighting a fire emergency, they know what to do and how to work together. We enter the drama of God, and we have our lines to speak; it is play, it is drama, it is practice, it opens and prepares us for the intimate encounter with God. And we all say, “Come”, knowing as the story goes, that it will not be what we expect, but what we have always been.

dec 23 devotional

December 23:  Music is like a great mother who holds our memories and traditions together, and making sure our most important events are experienced with great dignity, and showing we are each extraordinarily gifted to be present. Music is used by young people to help define their collective generation, and to bind them in a common experience. Music is used by the military to instill both fear and courage. Markets use it to enhance experience and motivate people when shopping. It is used by some hospitals to facilitate healing. We speak of the essentials of life as being in terms of things like food, clothing and shelter. But throughout human history we also have found that the sounds of our music are an essential component to our common life. Birds, too, and other species, have ways of using sound to express their life together. Can there be a Christmas without music? God came into our world and we have been singing about it ever since.

dec 22 devotional

December 22:  Isaiah 10:21 A remnant will return.  It has been said, and I have come to experience, that one cannot go home again. Once we have grown up, we cannot go back to childhood. Returning to a place in our past only shows us that life has gone on without us. I once heard someone say that we are only remembered as long as it takes for water to fill the area left after we pull out our arm from the water. That may be so, but the scripture today reminds us that there is also a remnant that will return. Our arm was made wet; there may be germs we left in the water, or flakes of dead skin. Our childhood may be over, but it continues to influence and shade all of our present moments. God does not forget deep memories. There are some we might wish to forget, but God will bring them into the arms of loving healing and bring that which was never allowed to grow to become the great oaks that will shade the next Abraham as he greets angels. We can never relive past gatherings and holidays, but we know that they are and will always be part of our soul’s DNA, and part of God’s heart. 

dec 21 devotional

December 21:  The Feast Day of St. Thomas - Thomas always seems to me to be a great example of mistaken accusation. He is accused of being a doubter, thus “doubting Thomas”. When, in fact, he really was one who did not experience what everyone else experienced, and could not assent to something to which he himself had not been witness. He seems, to me, to be more like the person at a meeting where the momentum to take a certain action carries everyone along, except one brave soul who asks, “why?” or says “I don’t feel the same way”. Lasting faith does not come from simply accepting what others have told us, but must also be experienced and understood for ourselves. Thomas is the beacon in the gospel, the voice that demands that we do not agree because others tell us to, but because we deeply agree, or have come to know that which we profess. Thomas always went his own way. While the other apostles stayed in the near east, or went toward Rome, he went to India. The season leading up to Christmas is filled with traditions and familial expectations. The feast of St. Thomas reminds us to not just go along, but to insist that we belong.

dec 20 devotional

December 20:  As one who feels overwhelmed and under-impressed with the ever earlier onslaught of Christmas marketing, I would like to take a moment to stand up for the commercial Christmas and all the hype and hoopla. During the days of December leading up to Christmas, I find that the added haste, busyness and elevated expectation to be exciting. I like to think about people I love and what I gift I may give them. Gathering with friends for a party is nice. Driving down a familiar road and seeing that some people have put more energy than necessary into their house decorations and it makes me smile. It is easy to be critical of the commercialized hype and to view a more meditative alternative style holiday as a better and more “spiritual” experience. But for a moment I would like to propose that perhaps even in the commercialized and frenzied activity we create, God’s grace helps guide us, and helps us to feel important and a part of something larger and more connected to life.

dec 19 devotional

December 19:  The Feast Day of Lillian Trasher - The feast days of the Church introduce me to people I would never have known about. Lillian Trasher is one of these people. She was born in 1887, and at 23 she felt called to go to Africa to serve God. Against the will of her family and with only $100, she settled in Egypt, and led by circumstances seen to be God’s guidance, she founded an orphanage, and ran it until the late 1950’s. It is still in operation today, and is funded almost entirely by the churches in Egypt .

A story like this reminds me that sometimes we need to go far away to find ourselves; to break away from our culture and traditions to find them. And sometimes what others think is best for us is not always what is best for us. Her journey also is a great reminder that we do not always know what we are getting into when we begin our journey; sometimes we just need to make the first step.

dec 18 devotional

December 18:  Change isn’t the ship on which we sail, nor the destination to which we head; but rather the compromises and course corrections that have to be made due to climate, resources and geography causing us to view our journey differently. To go out simply seeking change will lead us nowhere, endlessly wandering without purpose. And yet, to make any pilgrimage, of which all of our lives are one, means we need to travel with the companion of change. It will show us the impossible when we feel there is no way out. It will tempt us to find another way when we are faced with the challenges that are ours to bear and which will be the defining vista of our lives.

We seem to be living in a time of phenomenal change, in so many different aspects of our lives. This doesn’t detract us from the goal of being faithful to our God, rather it is what reminds us that this faithfulness is what is more important than the path we feel so sure about traveling.

dec 17 devotional

 December 17:  The Feast Day of William Lloyd Garrison and Maria Stewart - These two very vocal prophets and anti-slavery advocates of the 18^th century were voices that helped change our nation. I cannot imagine any way in which one can justify slavery and Christianity, and this is in large part to their work. The Episcopal Church did not make a stand, but tried to hold everyone together during the civil war. A southern bishop also served as a general in the Confederacy.

Today, when people make strong prophetic stands and speak out on social issues, I usually try to look at all sides and if possible avoid conflict. If I do not need to make a stand then I will do everything I can to avoid it, whatever the issue of the day. But I am reminded by the witness of William Lloyd Garrison and Maria Stewart that the voices which I might want to avoid might be the voices that are speaking a new and more clear understanding of God’s will. I agree with their work, but would I have done so if I were living in their era? Possibly not. With this in mind, I listen to the prophets and social reformers of today.

dec 16 devotional

December 16:  John 3:27  ‘No one can receive anything except what has been given from heaven.  There are many ways we seek to be fulfilled or find peace and/or meaning and yet we so often choose another way. We try to use a tool for the wrong purpose, make clothes that are too tight fit, work at jobs that we shouldn’t be doing, assume responsibility for things which we have no responsibility over, and in so doing, we find ourselves frustrated. When we shop and buy things to make us feel better, it only lasts for a short while. When we use various drugs or substances to find peace or happiness, we eventually find isolation and sorrow. When we see relationships as the answer for who we are, then we often find ourselves frustrated with others as we become frustrated with ourselves. But when we are open to circumstances, people, and opportunities that are from heaven, all seems to fit into place. I might see it differently by seeing it as when I am with someone who helps me be more of who I am, or find a job that reveals what I love, or a place that strengthens my heart, or an opportunity that might be hard, but drives me to stand in my courage; then I know what has been from God, what is needed, and what sates the inner hunger of my soul.