{"id":9091,"date":"2012-01-01T23:38:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T05:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?p=9091"},"modified":"2012-01-01T23:38:46","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T05:38:46","slug":"christmas-eve-lessons-and-carols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/christmas-eve-lessons-and-carols\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_8722\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-9091-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3\">http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/?powerpress_pinw=9091-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"http:\/\/www.austinuuav.org\/audio\/2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"2011-12-24_Xmas_eve_lessons.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p>Rev. Meg Barnhouse<\/p>\n<p>December 24, 2011<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Excerpt from\u00a0<strong>&#8220;God&#8217;s Joy Moves&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Persian poet Rumi\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">God&#8217;s joy moves from unmarked box to unmarked box,<\/p>\n<p>From cell to cell. As rainwater, down into flowerbed.<\/p>\n<p>As roses, up from ground.<\/p>\n<p>Now it looks like a plate of rice and fish,<\/p>\n<p>Now a cliff covered with vines,<\/p>\n<p>Now a horse being saddled.<\/p>\n<p>It hides within these,<\/p>\n<p>Till one day it cracks them open.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>&#8220;Come Into Christmas&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><\/strong>\u00a0<em>Ellen Fay<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">It is the winter season of the year<\/p>\n<p>Dark and Chilly<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps it is a winter season in your life.<\/p>\n<p>Dark and chilly there, too<\/p>\n<p>Come in to Christmas here,<\/p>\n<p>Let the light and warmth of Christmas brighten our lives and the world.<\/p>\n<p>Let us find in the dark corners of our souls the light of hope,<\/p>\n<p>A vision of the extraordinary in the ordinary.<\/p>\n<p>Let us find rest in the quiet of a holy moment to find promise and renewal.<\/p>\n<p>Let us find the child in each of us, the new hope, the new light, born in us.<\/p>\n<p>Then will Christmas come<\/p>\n<p>Then will magic return to the world.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0<strong>&#8220;The Shortest Day&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Susan Cooper<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">So the shortest day came, and the year died,<\/p>\n<p>And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world<\/p>\n<p>Came people singing, dancing,<\/p>\n<p>To drive the dark away.<\/p>\n<p>They lighted candles in the winter trees;<\/p>\n<p>They hung their homes with evergreen;<\/p>\n<p>They burned beseeching fires all night long<\/p>\n<p>To keep the year alive,<\/p>\n<p>And when the new year&#8217;s sunshine blazed awake<\/p>\n<p>They shouted, reveling.<\/p>\n<p>Through all the frosty ages you can hear them<\/p>\n<p>Echoing behind us &#8211; Listen!!<\/p>\n<p>All the long echoes sing the same delight,<\/p>\n<p>This shortest day,<\/p>\n<p>As promise wakens in the sleeping land:<\/p>\n<p>They carol, fest, give thanks,<\/p>\n<p>And dearly love their friends,<\/p>\n<p>And hope for peace.<\/p>\n<p>And so do we, here, now,<\/p>\n<p>This year and every year.<\/p>\n<p>Welcome Yule!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0Adapted from\u00a0<strong>&#8220;Hosannas of a Heavenly Host&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>by Edward<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">After the stores have closed and the final presents<\/p>\n<p>have been wrapped,<\/p>\n<p>beyond the ding, ding, ding<\/p>\n<p>of Salvation Army hand bells;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the steady, efficient<\/p>\n<p>computer click of cash registers;<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the sometimes gay, sometimes reverent<\/p>\n<p>drone of Christmas MUZAK<\/p>\n<p>There comes the deep silence of Christmas Eve<\/p>\n<p>It is a thoughtful silence<\/p>\n<p>of watching and waiting<\/p>\n<p>The silence of the Winter&#8217;s longest night.<\/p>\n<p>Look into the star &#8211; studded dome<\/p>\n<p>of infinity and shiver<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Your heartbeat gives<\/p>\n<p>such wonderful comfort<\/p>\n<p>That feeling of utter holiness<\/p>\n<p>Becomes an unuttered prayer<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">At this moment<\/p>\n<p>You know<\/p>\n<p>Why<\/p>\n<p>The shepherds<\/p>\n<p>Who kept watch through the night<\/p>\n<p>Heard the hosanna of the heavenly host.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0<strong>Luke 2: 1-7<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>&#8220;Each Night A Child ls Born&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>by Sophia Lyon Fahs<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">For so the children come<\/p>\n<p>and so they have been coming.<\/p>\n<p>Always in the same way they came<\/p>\n<p>Born of the seed of man and woman<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">No angels herald their beginnings.<\/p>\n<p>No prophets predict their future courses.<\/p>\n<p>no wise man see a star to show where to find<\/p>\n<p>The babe that will save humankind.<\/p>\n<p>Yet each night a child is born is a holy night.<\/p>\n<p>Fathers and mothers &#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Sitting beside their children&#8217;s cribs-<\/p>\n<p>Feel glory in the sight of a new beginning.<\/p>\n<p>They ask &#8220;Where and how will this new life end?<\/p>\n<p>Or will it ever end?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Each night a child is born is a holy night-<\/p>\n<p>A time for singing-<\/p>\n<p>A time for wondering<\/p>\n<p>A time for worshipping.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0<strong>Luke 2: 8-14<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0<strong>Luke 2: 15-20<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">\u00a0<strong>&#8220;In This Night&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>by Dorothee Solie\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this night the stars left their habitual places<\/p>\n<p>And kindled wildfire tidings<\/p>\n<p>that spread faste<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this night the shepherds left their posts<\/p>\n<p>To shout the new slogans<\/p>\n<p>into each other&#8217;s clogged ears.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this night the foxes left their warm burrows<\/p>\n<p>and the lion spoke with deliberation,<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This is the end revolution&#8221;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">In this night roses fooled the earth<\/p>\n<p>And began to bloom in snow.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>A Ritual of the Winter Solstice Fire<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Meg Barnhouse<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Let us take into our hands a Christmas Candle, a Solstice candle<\/p>\n<p>this is a night of ancient joy and ancient fear<\/p>\n<p>those who have gone before us were fearful of what lurked<\/p>\n<p>outside the ring of fire, of light and warmth.<\/p>\n<p>As we light this fire we ask that the fullness of its flame<\/p>\n<p>protect each of us from what we fear most<\/p>\n<p>and guide us towards our perfect light and joy.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">May we each be encircled by the fire and warmth of love<\/p>\n<p>and by the flame of our friendship with one another.<\/p>\n<p>On this night, it was the ancient custom to exchange gifts<\/p>\n<p>of light, symbolic of<\/p>\n<p>Therefore make ready for the light!<\/p>\n<p>Light of star, light of candle,<\/p>\n<p>Firelight, lamplight, love light<\/p>\n<p>Let us share the gift of light.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>The Work of Christmas<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Howard Thurman<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">When the song of angels s stilled,<\/p>\n<p>When the star in the star in the sky is gone,<\/p>\n<p>When the kings and princes are home,<\/p>\n<p>When shepherds are back with<\/p>\n<p>their flock,<\/p>\n<p>The work of Christmas begins:<\/p>\n<p>to find the lost,<\/p>\n<p>to heal the broken.<\/p>\n<p>to feed the hungry,<\/p>\n<p>to release the prisoner,<\/p>\n<p>to rebuild the nations,<\/p>\n<p>to bring peace among the brothers,<\/p>\n<p>to make music in the heart.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><strong>&#8220;A Wish&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>by Max Coots<\/em><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">For you, I wish:<\/p>\n<p>Soft snow,<\/p>\n<p>A gift, both given and received, wrapped in love, a candle and a fire,<\/p>\n<p>A bowl of crisp red apples, tangerines, and oily oranges,<\/p>\n<p>A blizzard of cards that bring those others closer than they were before,<\/p>\n<p>A tree that somehow kept its green when autumn came and went,<\/p>\n<p>The joy of old stories that seem forever new and songs sung softly<\/p>\n<p>under the breath of peace on earth<\/p>\n<p>Go in Peace and Love<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rev. Meg Barnhouse December 24, 2011 Excerpt from\u00a0&#8220;God&#8217;s Joy Moves&#8221; Persian poet Rumi\u00a0 God&#8217;s joy moves from unmarked box to unmarked box, From cell to cell. As rainwater, down into flowerbed. As roses, up from ground. Now it looks like a plate of rice and fish, Now a cliff covered with vines, Now a horse&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19,16,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-available","category-meg-barnhouse","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9091\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/austinuu.org\/wp2013\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}