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Christmas 2018 - Poetry and the Promise of Light

Picture
​"...embrace Christmas but understand it far more deeply than you have to this point. Look at the poetry of it..."
​

~ Thomas Moore in The Soul of Christmas

This online Christmas service includes music and readings from our 2018 Christmas Concert and poetry from our Christmas Eve service. Complete readings from the concert written by Ben Luedcke are available here:
concert_readings.pdf
File Size: 169 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File


O Come, O Come Emmanuel
~ arr. Trevor Manor
Waiting

The fine art of waiting.
Suspension
Holding the long note
The fragility of staving off despair
Pulling myself back from it's tentacled grasping reach.

It's in the breathing
In and out
Concentrate on that
It's in the heartbeat
Up and down
Focus on that
Count sheep
Count blessings
Name every state you've ever been to
Repeat all the verses of every song on Tapestry, in order.
Do whatever it takes
Not to slip
And then slide on the unforgiving green algae to the bottom
Or suffocate in the rising water of the Titanic.


No instruction book came with the packet
For surviving grim nights and the trying hours of the soul.
I've had to make it up as I go along...
Waiting for daylight
Waiting.

~ Janet Hasselblad
Candlelight Carol
~ arr. John Rutter

Katie Kelley, Belle Chenault, Eric Jeffords, Jim Ginn, Jared White
It's the Thought that Counts

Myrrh and frankincense and gold--
The first Christmas gifts, or so it’s told.
“These’re for the baby,” the kings told her.
“This frankincense and gold and myrrh.”
 
Mary nodded and bowed her head.
“Thanks—put them there by the manger bed.”
But when they were gone, she said to Joe,
“Let’s take these back and get the dough.
 
“I’d rather have a little onesie,
Or a Teddy bear, or something funsie.
Or even a start on the funds for college--
From those wise men, themselves full of knowledge.”
 
But her husband sighed and said to her,
“This frankincense and gold and myrrh
Aint what we need, but it’s all they had.
It’s the thought that counts, for good or bad.”

​Down through the ages, it hasn’t got better;
Who wanted a fruitcake or an ugly sweater?
And now, it’s all Walmart and Amazon Prime,
Or gift cards from Safeway, to save yourself time!
 
The perfect gift of course was love,
Conceived in heavenly thought above--
The thought that counts, so wise ones say--
That came to earth on Christmas Day.
 
The love of God to earth come down
In that manger bed in Bethlehem town.
Gifted by kings from the orient
With their gold and myrrh and frankincense.


​~ Patricia Kile
Jubilate Deo
~ Giovanni Gabrieli
​Advent 
​
I've had months
Of just plain living
Settling into the routine of
Dealing with life as it comes.
And now it's time
For evaluation
Time to weigh and analyze
 
What has worked?
What hasn't?
In what ways can my life be
Different?
In what ways do I
Want it different?
Who can I become?
 
It is advent
The conception of Christ light
In my life.
 
As I conceive the
Answers to my questions
The shining light of Christ
Grows in me
To be birthed
Into my world at
Christmas.


​Christmas
How joyous
How terrifying.
 
The light of perfection beckons.
How can I possibly measure up?
(Maybe I decry my ability
So I won't have to try?)
No, the Light is in me already
To be born in my life anew
 
My life will change.
How fearful to contemplate!
I could change my life!
 
Oh Divine spark
Coming to lie in the rough straw,
Coming forth out of the humble manger of
My present life,
Divine spark
Inflame me!
Grow large in my world!

~ Rebecca Alder
O Come All Ye Faithful
~ arr. Daniel Forrest
Manger

Manger: a feeding trough for sheep, goats, and cows. 
That’s the best they could do for the new born King? 
For real? 
Emmanuel—God with us, 
The one we hoped for, 
The one we’ve waited for--
In a barn, not a palace?
Not sure where they would sleep that night. 
The time came,
The Anointed One arrived,
In a pinch even a barn will do.
Child of the Most High God, they called him, 
Yet, he slept on hay, 
Not even on a down duvet!
Nothing fancy—pedestrian in fact.
 
They laid him in a manger--
A feeding trough for sheep, goats, and cows. 
It really makes no sense,
Yet, the heavens rejoiced,
The angels clapped for joy!,
Make way for the new born king!
What kind of child is this?

​~ Patricia Hunter
The First Noel
~ arr. Dan Forrest
Christmas Eve: Where Christmas and Homecoming Meet

This is the night when joy abounds,
When stars shine brightly,
And heaven and angels sing.
This is the time when we talk of peace
And the infancy of hope.
 
And yet, 
And yet, lurking beyond all that is calm and bright,
Is our fear of what is and what is to come,
Our fear of the stranger.
And whether that stranger is
A Spanish-speaking single mother
Seeking asylum at San Ysidro, 
Or an acquaintance calling us
On the racism we thought ourselves
Well beyond,
Whether it is a friend whose change in self-descriptive
Pronouns finds us struggling to adjust,
Or a hostile teenage girl sleeping on the steps
Just beyond these doors.
Whether that stranger is in Syria
Or White Center,
Whether that stranger voted the
Other way,
Or just sat too close to us on the bus, 
Talking gibberish,
Whoever that stranger might be,
We confess that in response we are too often
Builders of walls.
 
Yes, the emperor speaks frequently of the need
For walls.
But we too build them,
Hide behind them. 
Every day.
Us.
 
Bethlehem, that romantic little town
Of the Christmas story, 
Is now a walled-in city,
With checkpoint, armed soldiers 
And metal detectors.
Christian Pilgrims, visiting the 
Church of the Nativity,
Shop at Palestinian souvenir stores 
Like the Holy Star Gift Shop,
Which is surrounded on three sides by yet another wall
Reputedly erected to protect the holy site of
Rachel's Tomb.

​Rachel -- mother to all
Who was buried by the side of the road
In Bethlehem 
By Jacob 
When she died in childbirth.
Left there
To become the one who would
Listen to the peoples' sorrows
As they were exiled,
To intercede for them,
To hold their hopes when they could not,
And to welcome them 
When they came home.
For anyone who is burdened,
She listens still from behind that wall.
 
Tonight, even as we remember the little town
Where shepherds were called to be free
Of fear
And wise ones followed a star
To the place where an infant was lauded by angels,
Tonight
We seek to bring down walls --
In the holy places,
In the minds of emperors
And in our own hearts.
 
Tonight as we strive to reconcile
Our harshest instincts
With our deepest calling,
May we hear the voice of Rachel
Reminding us that we are not alone,
Imploring us to lay down our burdens,
Welcoming us home.
Home to our best selves
Home to every stranger,
And to one another.
Home to that sacred place
Where the hopes and fears
Of all the years
Find common bond.
Tonight.

~ Cherry Johnson
Magnify the Lord
~ Ruth Elaine Schram
Poem

If, as Herod, we fill our lives with things,
And again with things;
If we consider ourselves so unimportant
that we must fill every moment of our lives with action;
When will we have the time to make the long, slow journey across the burning desert, 
as did the Magi?
Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds?
Or brood over the coming of the child, as did Mary?
For each of us: There is a desert to travel, 
A star to discover, 
And a being within ourselves to bring to life.

~ Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen


​
Choose Something Like a Star

O Star (the fairest one in sight),
We grant your loftiness the right
To some obscurity of cloud--
It will not do to say of night,
Since dark is what brings out your light.
Some mystery becomes the proud.
But to the wholly taciturn
In your reserve is not allowed.
Say something to us we can learn
By heart and when alone repeat.
Say something! And it says, 'I burn.'
But say with what degree of heat.
Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.
Use language we can comprehend.
Tell us what elements you blend.
It gives us strangely little aid,
But does tell something in the end.
And steadfast as Keats' Eremite,
Not even stooping from its sphere,
It asks a little of us here.
It asks of us a certain height,
So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far,
We may choose something like a star
To stay our minds on and be staid.

~ Robert Frost
Dona Nobis Pacem
~ J.S. Bach
The Animals    

     It's 3 am
     In December 
    18 degrees outside 
    Ice and snow 
    Deep on the meadow
    
    What's that sound?
    That tinkling?
    Reindeer? Really?
    No
    Dog tags
    Otto shakes and paces
    In Otto-ese that means
    I need to go out
    Now!
    
    Ugh...
    Bed is so warm
    Out there is so cold
    But Otto insists
    And we know what happens 
    When we ignore his insistence 
    
    Pull on pants
    Sweatshirt 
    Jacket 
    Hat
    Boots
    Gloves
    Outside we go
    
   


​    Otto sniffs 

    Searches
    No urgency now
    So many smells 
    In the ice and snow 
    Must investigate them all
    Find just the right spot
    These things take time
    
    Frustrating dog!
    It's 18 degrees
    Hurry up!

    Sniff
    Search
    Sniff
    
    I give in
    And wait
    And look up
    Clear sky
    No moon
    Stars everywhere 
    Orion gleams
    The Milky Way
    Drips across the heavens
    This is better than Santa
    
    Back in bed
    Warm
    Otto is already snoring 
    I'm awake
    With wonder
​
​    

​An ancient dog
    Got me up
    In the middle of the night
    And there
    Amidst my grumblings
    I found
    The universe
    
    Something similar
    Happened 200 years ago
    In a country church
    Mice in the bellows
    Broke the organ
    On Christmas Eve 
    What to do?
    Sing that new song
    With guitar
    Stille Nacht
    Silent Night
    
    Animals 
    At very inconvenient times
    Show us the universe
    Introduce us
    To heavenly peace.

    ~ Jim Segaar
Hodie Christus Natus Est
~ Jans Pieters Sweelinck

Blessing

At Seattle First Baptist, we believe that God has not only sent us to bring the good news to the oppressed, the prisoners, and the broken-hearted, but that we are called to bethat light, to be servants of peace and justice.  The Promise of Light is not some far-off unseen magical fix to the world’s problems.  The Promise of Light is YOU.  Take Jesus’ life as a model for how to bring peace: never underestimate the effect of your actions or words.  When you feel powerless as the world around you spins out of control, always remember the significance of just showing up and speaking out.  In addition to singing praises to God, in our celebration of song we seek to renew our strength as a welcoming community as we go out into the world to serve our neighbors.  We hope to inspire you to do the same.  Go forth with this message of joy.  Go forth with this Promise of Light. ​
​
​~ Ben Luedcke

Music Credits

The Sanctuary Choir
Ben Luedcke, director
Margie Paynton, organist

Instrumentalists:
Jim Ginn, Louanne Lotz, Mark Lotz, Brian Lew, Eli Weinberger, Gabriel Palmer, Lauren Anderson, David McBride, Benn Hansson, Ben Berlien, Karen Sunmark
#SeattleFirstBaptist
Copyright © 1869-2021 by Seattle First Baptist Church
Music is Podcast under WORSHIPcast License #7742, OneLicense.net Podcast License #712381, CCLI Podcast License
Seattle First Baptist Church     1111 Harvard Ave., Seattle, WA  98122     206-325-6051
  • HOME
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  • About Us
    • Welcome
    • NEXT GEN MINISTRIES
    • OUR TEAM >
      • PASTORAL TEAM
      • MUSIC STAFF
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      • LAY LEADERS
    • Our Building
    • PUBLICATIONS >
      • WELCOME HOME BOOK
    • Organization >
      • HISTORY
      • Governance
      • VALUES >
        • BAPTIST LIBERTIES
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    • LAST SUNDAY
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  • GET INVOLVED
    • Music >
      • SANCTUARY CHOIR
      • CHILDREN'S MUSIC
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    • DONATE >
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