...we rise

Then hear, O gracious Savior, accept the love we bring,

that we who know Your favor may serve You as our King;

and whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill,

we’ll triumph through our sorrows and rise to bless You still;

to marvel at Your beauty and glory in Your ways,

and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.

---Michael Perry, 1982

When something wonderful happens in my life, Thank you, Lord. When I see a beautiful sunset, or watch clouds heavy with rain gathering on the horizon, Thank God. When things go right at work or with family or friends, Thank you, God. When medical tests come back and the results are better than anyone could have led you to believe or hope, Thank you, Jesus!

Thanksgiving flows from gratitude for the good we sense in us and around us. It can be a powerful emotion, and gratitude can be a transformative force in lives and communities.

This hymn text is speaking of something other, though---something that is not a response to a blessing or sensed ‘gift moment’. This other might be called blessing, awe, marvel, or praise. This offering up of our souls, ourselves, to the very center of God’s Being. Essence offered up to Essence. Joyfully offering our souls as gift and sacrifice to our Soul-Creator.

And so, independent of our circumstances, we bless God. We rise.

...open-eyed awe

My song rises from a thankful place;
a song accompanied on strings.
You cover the sky with clouds,
they grow heavy with rain 
you intend for the thirsty earth,
for the new grass reaching skyward 
on the hill.
This is the cycle you spun out of 
creative vitality
to provide the animals with their food, 
the young birds with what they need.
You take delight,
but not in the strength of power,
like a mighty stallion;
you take pleasure, 
but not in the feat of speed,
like a lithe runner;
your deep joy is in those 
who approach you with 
the open-eyed awe of children,
who put their hope in the 
steadfastness of 
your love.
---Psalm 147:7-11 (para. laca)

...no journey for the faint-hearted

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;

Ponder nothing earthly minded, for with blessing in His hand

Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.

---Liturgy of St. James, 5th cent.

Friends, we step this day onto holy ground; crossing what is sometimes called in Celtic spirituality a ‘thin place’ between one world and another. For this day we begin to mark the Coming, the welcoming not only of the Babe to the manger but of the reign of God in our hearts and in the world. And where we welcome God’s reign, not one thing can remain the same --- not one social construct, not one ‘good old day’, not one stone left on stone. This Advent, this coming, is no journey for the faint-hearted.

So, on the cusp of this new year --- between the brokenheartedness of our shortcomings, our failures, our disappointments, and the possibility, the chance, the prayer that all things will be made new --- let us stand still, silent, awed by the holiness of God come to us as ‘us’. From our eyes, from our hands, from our minds fall any considerations aside from this holiness.

And we worship.