The Advent 4 Candle called Joy
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
The Advent wreath extends the analogy of Light into the very experience of life; by it we come to know God engaging our senses, our emotions, our hearts, our minds, our bodies and our souls. Jesus calls Himself the Light of the World. The Christ Child then is the dawn; the return of Light to the World. Christ came into the darkness so that His beloved people living in a great darkness might be redeemed. As Light dawns we are called to see and know God and realize our desperate need of Him.
What is this image of dawning Light if not the very image of God who emptied Himself of all He is to communicate Himself to us? Christ is the Light: born He came to die - it is only the Cross which shines meaning in the manger. This is why in this blog we have adopted the tradition which ends Advent in Joy - what is Joy if not the purest emotional reaction to the dawning knowledge of God's Love! We celebrate and we rejoice because God is Light, because God is Love, because God is God.
The fourth candle is often called the Angel Candle. Why? I can only imagine the reason comes because of something like this:
(if you do not see a video here click this link: Ode to Joy - my dad would have loved this!!!)
After almost an hour of drifting through turbulent ebbs and flows of sound, Beethoven's Symphony #9 in Dm (his last symphony and his only "Choral") erupts in celebration. The Symphony speaks of life, trials, failure and redemption. Beethoven, a deaf, sick, beleagured old man brings us to a moment - a moment that occurs in the fourth movement which like our fourth candle is known for Joy. The melody has been hinted at and we have been teased and lured, but then there is the call (I can't help but say the call of God). There is a quiet, a moment of reflection and redemption. Then the choir, having stood silent until this very moment sing as if every Angel of Heaven is rejoicing at the recovery of a lost child ... they sing for Joy. (watch the video again - it is amazing!)
We sing in Joy. There is an energy, a vibration, a sound of sorts in every molecule of creation. This vibration inhabits us. It is as if God shapes us in this vibration to know its resonance and to respond to it. It is the wave, the music of our inner most being. This music is God's call to us. It is measured in time and formed in emotion. We hear it as children hearing the voice of our Father. In music we respond - we call it worship - we call it praise - it is the response of Joy overflowing the heart. Our song is the returning to the creator of what is His. In music there is birth and rebirth - vibration joining to vibration in an eternal chorus within a cloud of witness - the Church. We are born of Love, to sing in Joy and to worship our God. That is the way I imagine music given over to God. That is the way I imagine the Joy we enter into in Christ.
Psalm 98
1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
2 The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
We sing in Joy. There is an energy, a vibration, a sound of sorts in every molecule of creation. This vibration inhabits us. It is as if God shapes us in this vibration to know its resonance and to respond to it. It is the wave, the music of our inner most being. This music is God's call to us. It is measured in time and formed in emotion. We hear it as children hearing the voice of our Father. In music we respond - we call it worship - we call it praise - it is the response of Joy overflowing the heart. Our song is the returning to the creator of what is His. In music there is birth and rebirth - vibration joining to vibration in an eternal chorus within a cloud of witness - the Church. We are born of Love, to sing in Joy and to worship our God. That is the way I imagine music given over to God. That is the way I imagine the Joy we enter into in Christ.
Psalm 98
1 O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gotten him victory.
2 The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.
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