The holiday season is full of many associations. For both the devout and the secular, when December arrives we are invited to look again at the state of our lives and the state of our world. I find that each year something different grabs me—another aspect of the Christmas story, another way of looking at light and dark brought out by the Solstice, or another way of thinking about what a miracle is when considering the Hanukkah story.
This year I find myself particularly drawn to and moved by the message of angel and heavenly host in the gospel of Luke. The good news that will be to all people, they declare, is that the birth of the baby Jesus will help bring about an era marked by peace on earth and goodwill to all. Would that this were so. Would that it had been true at any point over the last several thousand years. Sadly, we have not done well at heeding the angel admonition and blessing.
Singing It Came Upon the Midnight Clear, which was written by Unitarian minister Edmund Sears, is deeply moving for me. The carol envisions the angels of long ago singing to us still—year after year. The second verse intones, “Still through the cloven skies they come with peaceful wings unfurled, and still their heavenly music floats o'er all the weary world; above its sad and lowly plains, they bend on hovering wing, and ever o'er its Babel sounds the blessed angels sing.” What do these 21st century angels look like? Where and how do we hear their song? What form does the song take—actual music or the laughter of someone nearby or the sound of the waves on the shore? How might we improve our capacity to hear this song?
One of my prayers this holiday season is that we might hear through and around and over the “Babel sounds”. The din of the Babel can be so strong, so deafening. We will have to listen carefully and closely to hear past consumerism and individualism. And listen again to hear past our biases and prejudices. To hear the angels sing of peace and compassion and even love for all people—we will have to be willing to hear beyond our comfort zones and familiar scripts. It won’t be easy; but this tune may be one of the sweetest we can hear. May this holiday season allow us some space for just such listening whether we believe the angels are parts of our conscience or messengers from the Holy. May we find inspiration in the music, lights, and stories of the season. I wish you a joyous and meaningful holiday season.
Rev. Shana Lynngood is co-minister of First Unitarian Church of Victoria. She has lived and served in Victoria since 2010.
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
This article was published in the print edition of the Times Colonist on Saturday December 27 2014
