Susandoodles

Welcome to the second week of Advent.  The first week the theme is hope.  The second week focuses on peace; and this year we know peace is fragile as we witness the horrors in Europe and the Mideast.  Please use extra prayer time to call for peace.

The reflections this week are based on Matt Rawle’s Experiencing Christmas:  Christ in the Sights and Sounds of Advent.  Last week we reviewed the sights or the sense of sight as we entered into Advent.  This week we consider the sense of hearing by thinking about the sounds of Christmas.

For those of us who are Methodists, we are accustomed to using music in our worship.  And Advent season is a time for music to fill the sanctuaries.  

Rawle shares that he began preparing for a career in music as he entered college before he heard his call into ministry.  He takes a different approach than I expected.  As I finished reading the chapter, I realized his training was giving a deeper meaning to the sounds of Advent–a balance of sound and silence in understanding what we hear.

These are the primary points Rawle makes:

• It seems impossible to imagine Christmas without music.
• Christmas music in particular brings us together in a way that sometimes words just can’t.
• The announcement of Christ’s birth carries more energy and jubilation than other moments on the calendar.
• Words alone cannot contain God’s abundance Jesus revealed to the world.  We sing, we dance, we celebrate, we treasure, we ponder, and sometimes we remain silent.

At the first reading of Rawle’s major points, one might believe he is talking about all the traditional carols of Christmas, but he adds in another level of thought.  He first asks us to consider just what the shepherds heard on the night of Jesus’ birth.  

Rawle points out that the night was probably filled with quiet.  The sounds were nature sounds—crickets, birds rustling, nocturnal animals out and about, and so on.  There were no radio waves carrying music or televisions blaring.  Just the nighttime silence.   

Then the angels arrive!  The silence is broken and filled with praise.  The difference would have been shocking.

As Rawle continues, he shares that in the gospel of Luke the praise occurs at the announcement of Baby Jesus’ birth and then only again at the end after Jesus has been crucified and resurrected.  The lifespan of Jesus is quiet by comparison.

Today, we cannot imagine the Christmas season without the sounds—especially the Christmas music.  It is our praise, it is when we hear the world differently, and it is how we share the excitement of the season.  It is also how we share the story with others who may still be trapped in silence.

As Advent continues, consider the balance of sound and silence in your life.  Then consider the beauty of the sounds of Christmas—certainly the music, but also the other sounds such as kids squeals of joy, the baking dishes sliding in and out of the ovens.  We praise the arrival of Christ Jesus and we share the good news in all the sounds of Christmas.