Forward step by step

 

Dear Friends

With the arrival of the vaccine, we are now being told that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”. While we rejoice at that good news, we also must realize the “end” of the tunnel is still many months away, at best. And, there will be many twists and turns along the way, which means the light will not always be visible.

Tomorrow, December 21^st, is the first day of winter, the winter solstice, the day with the longest night. For many, 2020 has been the longest year of their lives. This year, it is also the closest visible conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 800 years. This is being compared to the “Christmas Star” because the biblical star we read about in Luke could also have been a conjunction of planets. (To see it, we are being told to “look toward the waxing moon in the western sky, about 45 minutes after sunset”).

Perhaps we could imagine ourselves being in conjunction with Jesus this Christmas (“God and sinners reconciled”, as we sing in that carol.) When we intentionally try to stay close to the “light of the world”, he will lead us through the long, dark, twisting and turning tunnels of our lives, including the one the whole world is experiencing right now.

These words of John Henry Newman's classic hymn come to mind:

Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, lead thou me on;

The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead thou me on;

Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

the distant scene: one step enough for me.*

Forward day by day? How about, for right now, forward step by step!

As we patiently and prayerfully wait for the vaccinations to spread (in order to slow down and stop the spread), let us rejoice that we have a light, a Shepherd and Savior now. Jesus is not a vaccine to give us immunity from every disease and heartache, from every sin that infects the world. He is the one who walks with us through this life and offers forgiveness, healing, and abundant life, and, a new life that defeats death.

And so let us pray the verse of “O Come O Come Emmanuel” appointed for tomorrow, December 21^st:

O come, thou Dayspring from on high

and cheer us by thy drawing nigh;

Disperse the gloomy clouds of night

and death’s dark shadow put to flight

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

You're finished, fall. Welcome, winter. Coming Soon: spring and summer!

John

* If you have extra time, you might enjoy reading these excerpts from Wikipedia about this hymn:

"Lead, Kindly Light" is a hymn with words written in 1833 by Saint John Henry Newman as a poem titled "the Pillar of the Cloud", which was first published in the British Magazine in 1834. As a young priest, Newman became sick while in Italy and was unable to travel for almost three weeks. In his own words:

Before starting from my inn, I sat down on my bed and began to sob bitterly. My servant, who had acted as my nurse, asked what ailed me. I could only answer, "I have a work to do in England." I was aching to get home, yet for want of a vessel I was kept at Palermo for three weeks. I began to visit the churches, and they calmed my impatience, though I did not attend any services. At last, I got off in an orange boat, bound for Marseilles. We were becalmed for whole week in the Straits of Bonifacio, and it was there that I wrote the lines, Lead, Kindly Light, which have since become so well known.

Notable occasions relating to hymn:

The largest mining disaster in the Durham Coalfield in England was at West Stanley Colliery, known locally as "The Burns Pit", when 168 men and boys lost their lives as the result of two underground explosions at 3.45pm on Tuesday 16 February 1909. In the Towneley Seam 63 lay dead, in the Tilley Seam 18 lay dead, in the Busty Seam 33 lay dead and in the Brockwell Seam 48 lay dead. But incredibly, there were still men alive underground. A group of 34 men and boys in the Tilley Seam had found a pocket of clean air. They were led by Deputy Mark Henderson. Sadly, a few of them panicked and left the group, they died instantly after inhaling the poison gas. The remainder sat in almost total darkness, when one of them began humming the Hymn "Lead Kindly Light". In no time at all, the rest of the miners joined in with the words, "Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom, lead thou me on; The night is dark, and I am far from home". This was probably sung to the tune "Sandon" by C. H. Purday, popular with miners in the Durham coalfield. Before the hymn ended, young Jimmy Gardner died of injuries. These 26 men were rescued after 14 hours, four others were later rescued.

"Lead, Kindly Light" was sung by Betsie ten Boom, sister of Corrie ten Boom, and other women as they were led by the S.S. Guards to the Ravensbrück concentration camp during the Holocaust.

“Lead, Kindly Light” was sung by a soloist, Marion Wright, on the RMS Titanic during a hymn-singing gathering led by the Rev. Ernest C. Carter, shortly before the ocean liner struck an iceberg on April 14, 1912. The hymn was also sung aboard one of the Titanic's lifeboats when the rescue ship Carpathia was sighted the following morning. It was suggested by one of the occupants, Noëlle, Countess of Rothes.

Finally, on one occasion in February 1915, “Lead, Kindly Light” was sung by a group of British troops to the accompaniment of nearby artillery fire on the Western Front during the First World War, at services held before going into the trenches the following day.iends