Joy in Abundance
“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’”
In a Christmastide that is especially wintery — at least, here in our little town of Bellingham — Anna Makać’s contemporary Finnish interpretation of the flight of the Holy Family from the rage of Herod in the Escape to Rovaniemi (2020) seems especially appropriate! (Makać herself is Polish, but she has been in a multi-year collaboration with the Finnish Lutheran Church to provide a new language of Christian art localized to the Suomi context).
Besides incorporating Suomi colors and symbolism to the scene — most notably, the Mother of God and the baby Jesus are riding a reindeer, as more figures of the beast dance in the night sky, representing the Aurora Borealis — Makać is attentive to the geographical particularities of Lapland. The anxious Family traverses an empty snowscape; and, though the question of whence they are traveling, or why these terminal points have been selected is unanswered, the artist tells us they are fleeing to Rovaniemi — a city which today markets itself as the hometown of Santa Claus.
Through the Church the manifold wisdom of God is now being made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.
—The Apostle Paul (Eph 1:10)
Second Sunday after Christmas
Texts for this Week
Prayer
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
I Wonder as I Wander …
Folklorist and musician John Jacob Niles wrote this carol in 1933 based on some melodic and lyrical fragments he collected from an Appalachian girl in Murphy, North Carolina. Here, it is interpreted in an arrangement by Tim Keeler, and his group Chanticleer. The pure and haunting melody is deepened and broadened by discordant elements that give the arrangement an almost jazzy feel.
Adeste, Fideles — O Come, All ye Faithful
The invitation “O Come” is most suitable in this extension of Christmastide, and indeed, the varied and mysterious history of the hymn comports well with the theme of universal invitation. It is a later Latin hymn, whose composition has variously been attributed to St. Bonaventure (13th C) to King John of Portugal (17th C) — although the most likely provenance is that it was written and promoted by anonymous Cistercians.
Below is an “urban” version, well-suited to cutting-lose in a celebratory home dance party (recommended). If you need something a bit more mellow, this contemporary acapella version by Voctave is appealing.
