Devotional 12-1-21

 Luke 3:1-6

A voice crying out in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight.
Every valley will be filled,
and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked will be made straight
and the rough places made smooth.
All humanity will see God’s salvation.”

Reading that scripture I am reminded of the beautiful tenor recitative and aria from Messiah, “Comfort Ye” and “Every Valley.” I grew up listening to them every Christmas Eve, as a tenor would sing them, accompanied by my Mom on the organ.

With Advent and Christmas music on the forefront of my mind from September to January, I am reminded how odd it seems to again not perform “A Ceremony of Nine Lessons and Carols” this year. Too many factors, including shorter rehearsal time, spacing, and safety issues continue with our Covid precautions. I think I’d perviously done seven of them here. On one hand, there is less stress involved in the preparation of the program. So that’s good. On the other hand, there is less to be excited about by not having the program. So that’s not good.

Choir has been singing again for a few months now, and my goal is just to try to have a good time while making good music — yet staying safe. It’s annoying to sing with a mask, and to sit a mile away from the next singer. So we try to at least have a nice time.

But I must tell you, being concerned with everyone’s safety during this pandemic has been exhausting. There’s the inconvenience of singing with a mask. The inconvenience of getting vaccinated. The inconvenience of trying to maintain normality while living with the new normal. Not seeing friends, losing friends, not seeing church members, losing church members, not having live theatre, not having live concerts.

Right now, I try to imagine the inconvenience of an expectant couple traveling to Bethlehem, the inconvenience of giving birth in a manger. The inconvenience of people talking behind your back, “Oh, God’s the father of the baby?” You know they did— people talk.

Maybe it’s our approach to dealing with inconvenience that matters. I wonder if Mary griped about laying on straw, and also the smelly animals. Was there a midwife there to help? I doubt it.

The birth of Jesus in Luke is a beautiful story. I just reread from the first chapter. It makes me feel all Christmassey and warm inside. I’m not so worried about what we can and cannot do this year. We’ll do the best we can, we’ll make the best of it.

“Every valley will be filled...” Those valleys to me are the lows, the valleys of emptiness and change. But they will be filled! “...and the rough places made smooth.” Well, we’ve certainly been living in rough times. Smooth? I'll take it.

When I feel low in the valley this Advent season, I will try to think of Luke’s writing. When I feel blue, when there are people missing around the Christmas tree, when there are no formal lessons and carols — I will try to remember that there is always a carol to be sung.

Bruce Rous