December 14
In his marvelous mystery from the 1800’s, The Moonstone, one of Willkie Collins’ main characters finds that everything on earth can be explained by passages in his favorite book, Robinson Crusoe. I know of people who similarly find such answers, and comfort, from the Bible. In contrast, most of my Christian experience has been greatly influenced by spending more than 60 years singing from the Episcopal Hymnals.
If you look at the music that we sing that is unique to Advent, you find several related themes. One of these can be variously stated as, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. Isaiah uses such a phrase and all four Gospels credit it to John the Baptist. In this vein, our hymnal gives us, “There’s a voice in the wilderness crying” and “On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry”. In today’s vernacular, the message we should hear is “Heads Up!”
Another theme relates to the parable of the ten maidens awaiting the arrival, at night, of the bridegroom. The five girls with foresight have laid in extra oil for their lamps; the foolish ones are sent into the night to buy more oil but are refused re-entry to the wedding feast. From this rather stern parable from Matthew, some sources extrapolate that the lesson here is to be repentant and reflective, so as to be ready for the arrival of Christ. From this theme, our hymnal gives us “Rejoice, Rejoice, believers” and, one of the greatest of Protestant hymns “Sleepers Wake”.
Perhaps the oldest and most haunting hymn we sing at Advent, the one we repeat weekly, is “Oh come, Oh come Emanuel”. There are phrases in this hymn that are, to me, evocative of the Hebrew lamentation from the Old Testament, “By the rivers of Babylon”. In it, the captive Jews bemoan their lot, their loss of the homeland and pray to God for deliverance.
In summary, much of what we sing during the Advent season is meant to foster reflection, penitence, and soul-searching preparation for the coming of the Savior. To some, Advent may seem like a “mini-Lent”. To me, the music of the season encourages expectation and the coming of something bright, and better than the darkness before.
Peter Bellinger
If you look at the music that we sing that is unique to Advent, you find several related themes. One of these can be variously stated as, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord”. Isaiah uses such a phrase and all four Gospels credit it to John the Baptist. In this vein, our hymnal gives us, “There’s a voice in the wilderness crying” and “On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry”. In today’s vernacular, the message we should hear is “Heads Up!”
Another theme relates to the parable of the ten maidens awaiting the arrival, at night, of the bridegroom. The five girls with foresight have laid in extra oil for their lamps; the foolish ones are sent into the night to buy more oil but are refused re-entry to the wedding feast. From this rather stern parable from Matthew, some sources extrapolate that the lesson here is to be repentant and reflective, so as to be ready for the arrival of Christ. From this theme, our hymnal gives us “Rejoice, Rejoice, believers” and, one of the greatest of Protestant hymns “Sleepers Wake”.
Perhaps the oldest and most haunting hymn we sing at Advent, the one we repeat weekly, is “Oh come, Oh come Emanuel”. There are phrases in this hymn that are, to me, evocative of the Hebrew lamentation from the Old Testament, “By the rivers of Babylon”. In it, the captive Jews bemoan their lot, their loss of the homeland and pray to God for deliverance.
In summary, much of what we sing during the Advent season is meant to foster reflection, penitence, and soul-searching preparation for the coming of the Savior. To some, Advent may seem like a “mini-Lent”. To me, the music of the season encourages expectation and the coming of something bright, and better than the darkness before.
Peter Bellinger