The light
Dear friends,
As the year ends, I want to tell you all: Season’s greetings, happy holidays, merry Christmas, and happy new year. I hope all of you have a wonderful time with friends and family.
Some of you may be going through a hard time during the holidays. You may have lost a loved one that you especially miss during this time or feel lonely or sick. When it seems like everyone around you is full of cheer and trouble-free, it can make things even harder when you yourself are not feeling it. May you feel God’s love surrounding you.
I recently listened to a podcast where the host, Dr. Grace Hamman, told the story of “The Great Antiphons.” They are 7 verses that begin with “O” and different names for God. Some are “O King, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David,” and others. Dr. Hamman talks about “O Dayspring” and uses a story from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers. Probably most of you have read or watched that story.
As Frodo and Sam are on their journey to Mordor, Gollum tricks them into going into the tunnel where a horrible spidery character waits–Shelob’s lair. Frodo and Sam stood in the dark underground tunnel, unable to see anything, feeling full of darkness and despair themselves. Suddenly they heard the creaking sound of something horrible approaching. Sam remembered the gift of Galadrial, the star glass, a vial that contained the light of the star Eärendil and he called to Frodo to bring it out.
Frodo held the vial up, and at first, it “glimmered faintly,” but as his hope grew, the vial “kindled to a silver flame.” Shelob came closer but then “quailed before it.” J.R.R. Tolkien wrote:
No brightness so deadly had ever afflicted her eyes before. From sun and moon, and star and earth, they had been safe underground, but now, a star had descended into the very earth.
The star freed Frodo and Sam from Gollum’s trap and illuminated the paths ahead. Not surprisingly, Tolkien had a deeper meaning in mind. The name Eärendil is used in the Great Antiphons and means Christ.
Don’t you love it? I am fascinated with deeper meanings of stories, poems, and songs. At Christmas, we still sing one of the Great Antiphons: “O Emmanuel.” Emmanuel means God With Us. We celebrate God coming to be with us and even becoming one of us. In much more modern language, in The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible, Eugene Peterson articulates John 1:14 this way: “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”
I am writing this note on Christmas Eve and in a few hours will be attending our church’s candlelight service. I’m sure some of you went to a candlelight service, too. As we pass the flame from one to the other, I will think of the star Eärendil, of Jesus, the Light of the World, coming into our dark world, bringing his love and light. I pray all of you will be blessed by his love. May your heart be strengthened and filled with hope like Frodo's. I will imagine all of you in a circle with my family and me, passing our candle flame to each other, reminding each of us of God’s neverending, unconditional love.
References:
Old Books With Grace, Dr. Grace Hamman
The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien
O Emmanuel; a final antiphon and more music, Malcolm Guite
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language, Eugene Peterson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is this?? A while back I had an idea. I wanted to pray for some friends, but I didn't have a specific thing to pray about on their behalf. I decided to pray that they would feel God's love and send them an email when I prayed, so they'd know and be encouraged. Then I thought about my many other family and friends who I would like to encourage with prayer and decided to start this email of God’s love. Two things I try to do:
-- Encourage you with a reminder of God's love. My goal is to avoid anything where the response is "I should..." Just a short reflection of God's love.
-- Pray for you. I'll pray with each email, and please reply to me with anything you'd specifically like me to pray for you. I'll keep it confidential, don't worry.
If you would like to send me specific prayer requests. I will gladly pray with you. Email me at mavis at moonfamily.cc. I'll keep all communication confidential.
I blog about a lot of other things, too. If you’d like to subscribe and receive an email each time I blog, subscribe at www.mavismoon.com.