This Advent season, my devotional practice has focused on some of the wonderful seasonal hymns. Before we come to the carols of Christmas, there are some beautiful hymns that speak to what Advent asks of us: to stay awake and pay attention, even as we wait and pray for the coming of Emmanuel—God-With-Us—into our lives and into the world.
Some of these hymns I grew up with like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” and “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus,” and others I have come to know in more recent years like “People, Look East” and “Awake! Awake and Greet the New Morn.” In my experience, the language of poetry and music often speaks to the heart and captures the mystery of the Good News in ways that prose or intellectual argument alone cannot.
One of these newer hymns, in particular, has caught my attention this year, and I have been returning to it again and again throughout the season:
Now the heavens start to whisper, as the veil is growing thin.
Earth from slumber wakes to listen to the stirring faint within:
seed of promise, deeply planted, child to spring from Jesse’s stem!
Like the soil beneath the frostline, hearts grow soft to welcome him.Heavy clouds that block the moonlight now begin to drift away.
Diamond brilliance through the darkness shines the hope of coming day.
Christ, the morning star of splendor, gleams within a world grown dim.
Heaven’s ember fans to fullness; hearts grow warm to welcome him.Christ, eternal Sun of justice, Christ, the rose of wisdom’s seed,
come to bless with fire and fragrance hours of yearning, hurt, and need.
In the lonely, in the stranger, in the outcast hid from view:
child who comes to grace the manger, teach our hearts to welcome you.Now the Heavens Start to Whisper, Mary Lousie Bringle
Often associated with the ancient Celts and Celtic Christians in Ireland and Scotland, the idea of “thin places” refers to spaces or times where the veil between heaven and earth becomes more permeable, allowing for a deeper encounter with the sacred. And the Advent and Christmas season is certainly such a time. Year after year, we wait with hope as we return to the miraculous news that “the Word has become flesh”—that God has entered human history in the child born in Bethlehem. Heaven has touched earth, and they continue to meet, as this hymn suggests, as we open our hearts to the One born for us who we welcome in the vulnerable among us.
Perhaps this hymn speaks to you, too. Perhaps there is another that calls to your heart. In the midst of the busyness of this season, I invite you to spend some time reflecting on the poetry, the message, the mystery of this season—the wonderful Good News that heaven has come near. Thanks be to God!
Lastly, a personal note of thanks to all of you for welcoming me into the Crossroads community for the last several months. I will be wrapping up my time here at the end of the year. It has been a joy and privilege to spend this time with you. I will be keeping you in my prayers as you walk ahead into the future, confident that God will continue to go with you, blessing your ministry and life together. I look forward to celebrating the remainder of this holy season with you.
With gratitude and affection,
Pastor Jean
