‘Hark! A herald voice is calling.’ AnAdvent hymn’s first line.
‘God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.’ C.S. Lewis.
Thank you to all those who have sent in images for the online Advent Calendar forming on St Melangell’s website or Face Book pages. The photos sent in this week included snapshots from America, Bulgaria, Poland, Turkey, Suffolk, the Black Country, and Wales with all of them providing fascinating glimpses of different journeys and daily lives. This week’s words are Hark! Rest, Night, Travel, Shepherd, Explore and Hope.
Today’s word, Hark! – an older word for Listen! – is not easy to depict visually and it may be that particular music or sounds might form an alternative suggestion for people to listen to wherever they are. The birdsong here is astounding and identifying what birds are making which cries can be greatly helped by the free Merlin app – others are available! – just as the military planes practising low flying here from RAF Valley also accompany the journey as this Advent-ure continues. Today, any suggestions of sounds to Harken or Listen to will be posted as well as any images if they are sent.
Hark! has become associated with John the Baptist, being the first word of the Advent hymn about him dating from the 6th century – just before the time St Melangell is thought to have lived. Matthew doesn’t mention that John is related to Jesus, as Luke does, but refers to his austere lifestyle with its diet of locusts and wild honey with clothing of camel skin and a leather belt. Living in the wilderness of Judea, in the Jordan valley to the west of the Dead Sea, John the Baptist is sometimes called the Forerunner as he calls those willing to listen to him to prepare the way of the Lord, to repent and be baptised as a sign of this.
As the second week of Advent begins, who are the Forerunners in our lives today? Who or what has helped to shape or prepare us for our journey in life? Who or what has called us to repent or change our ways – or have we asked that of someone? John’s message was harsh and uncompromising but religious people such as the Pharisees and Sadducees were flocking to hear him, even though John called them a brood of vipers – yet they had no need of baptism being observant Jews. Total immersion was reserved for Gentiles, so were they curious about John and coming to hear him for that reason or did they realise that perhaps they needed to change their ways or had begun to take their faith for granted? Might that apply to us, too, today?
These are hard challenges to face but Advent is a hopeful time to listen to what is being said or harken to silence which can be eloquent. If and when we do, it may be that, as the Advent-ure continues and leads into Christmas, we can also whole-heartedly proclaim, “Hark! The herald angels sing glory to the new born King.”
With my prayers; pob bendith,
Christine, Priest Guardian.