Last week, I wrote about developing the habit of awe and wonder. I connected this habit with the celebration of Hanukkah and the Winter Solstice. Today I am looking at the Christian belief in Jesus and his birth on Christmas, and the possibility of a time of awe and wonder for all who choose it.

A week ago, Geraldine and I were invited by friends to participate in the Festival of Lessons and Carols sponsored by the School of Music at the University of Maryland. The music, scripture readings and poetry were indeed a source of awe and wonder. Lessons & Carols is a British tradition that originated in 1918 at the King’s College by a young minister who believed the Church of England needed more imaginative worship. It was first broadcast on radio in 1928 and continued through the Second World War until today.

The combined choir of the University of MD is a bigger choral group than I have ever experienced. Imagine an audience of several hundred adults and a choir of 200 in their early 20s gathered in the University’s ecumenical Memorial Chapel joining to sing The First Nowell and O Come All Ye Faithful. I love singing with a group. Singing carols with a college choral group with such power and majesty was indeed a magical moment.

For some young people there is no practice of any religion or profession of faith; yet here were all these young people enthusiastically singing about the birth of Jesus. Was this all about the music and use of the gift of voice irrespective of the song? Perhaps for some. My hunch is that many of these young people connected with the notion of joyfully celebrating hope. I believe they appreciated the opportunity to sing about a vision of peace on earth regardless of negative current events.

Interspersed with the singing are readings from the Bible – Old Testament and New Testament – and poetry. One reading included: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest.” (Isaiah: 9:2-3)

Darkness is ubiquitous in the human experience. It is inescapable. For some, it is an occasional bad day. For others, it is a daily struggle to find a reason to live in the midst of addiction, physical or mental illness, or other personal challenges. For others, their community is constantly at risk from poverty, war, racism, and other forms of abuse.

Each of us must find a source of hope and resilience within us in order to survive. We are supported by friends, family, helping organizations. Yet ultimately, we face our dark night and search for solace.

To me, Jesus is one road to hope. I believe that there is some power that existed before the Big Bang. There are too many mysteries being revealed by the Webb telescope and science; it is not hard for me to believe in God as LOVE. That source of LOVE and SPIRIT or Oneness loves so much, it became human to teach us to love and be loved. I call this universal source Jesus.

 Because it is logically impossible to understand a power beyond the human imagination, I believe we are each free to choose what we want to believe. It is our choice as to how we want to connect or not with this power beyond us. Without some belief in a power that unites, and wants good for us, we are left with a hopeless world where there is no reason to choose to love. I find that hard to believe.

One of the poems read at Lessons & Carols was The Work of Christmas by African-American theologian and civil rights advocate Howard Thurman. Thurman sums up the challenge that comes with the joy of being renewed through faith this way:

The Work of Christmas*

When the song of the angels is stilled,

When the star in the sky is gone,

When the kings and princes are home,

When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,

To heal the broken,

To feed the hungry,

To release the prisoner,

To rebuild the nations,

To bring peace among others,

To make music in the heart.

 May you be in awe this season for blessings in whatever way you celebrate and may this season renew your hope in love and light.

* The poem “The Work of Christmas” is from Howard Thurman’s The Mood of Christmas and Other Celebrations and is used by permission of Friends United Press. All rights reserved. As found at Ignatian Spirituality.com