“Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.”
We sang these wonderful words at our first service of the Advent season on Nov. 28.
They come from the original words to “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” penned in the mid-19th Century by Rev. Phillip Brooks, an Episcopalian priest. On a visit to the Holy Land he was struck by the beauty and mystery of place and time, and by a sense of God’s presence. I wonder if the fact that he spent most of his career at two different churches both named Holy Trinity (a name that itself reflects the mystery of God) doesn’t confirm his openness to, and awareness of, the beauty, mystery, and presence of God in our lives.
There are two ways I want to go with these words. One is to reflect on our time and place in general: Christmas 2021 in America. It’s funny, but also such very sad commentary on our society, that there are so many headlines these days about Christmas being ruined, or not coming at all, because of supply chain problems. What???!!. Not being able to get your hands on the latest Tickle-Me-Elmo is a sign that Christmas isn’t coming? That’s proof, I suppose, of the strength of the religion of capitalism in our nation.
But all of that said, supply chain problems—if you want to call them that–have been so real for so long for so many who for whatever reasons find themselves removed from the economic systems and benefits which so many of us rely on. Those young parents, Mary and Joseph, could relate. Their baby-to-be would be born homeless, and would go on to spend at least the first two years of his life as a refugee whose parents fled due to immediate danger….
“Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.”
….And for all of that, Christmas came anyway. And indeed it is how Christmas came that brings us hope and that makes us part of the story. If not for help from strangers, where might Jesus have been born? (How) Would he and his family have survived?
The second way I want to go with this is to comment directly on me and my situation, and on Hillcrest, as we prepare to say Good Bye to each other this Advent and Christmas season. As has been announced, I have been called by God and by the Church in the Gardens in Forest Hills (Queens), NY to be pastor there. That all sounds great to me except, of course, that it means leaving a church that I love so much (my final Sunday at Hillcrest will be Jan 2, 2022). I take heart in any number of things including you the people of Hillcrest and the mission and ministries of Hillcrest.
“Where charity stands watching
And faith holds wide the door,
The dark night wakes, the glory breaks,
And Christmas comes once more.”
Of course Christmas will come and continue to come. And, of course charity (a better word for which is “love”) and faith (which also means “faithfulness”) will continue to be experienced at Hillcrest. That’s the Christmas I know and that’s the Hillcrest I know. Indeed, I can’t think of two better words to define Hillcrest than love and faithfulness.
I know that Hillcrest, where love and faithfulness stand, will continue to be a beacon for the light of Christ breaking into the world.
God Bless you!
