God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen

Wednesday, December 11, 2013
"God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen"

The comma actually makes the phrase make so much more sense.  I suppose that's what commas are for, which is what I teach every afternoon, after all.

It's the chorus that really gets to me today.

O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy,
O tidings of comfort and joy.

Simple as it is, it makes me think of the Bible verse about those who fear the light are those who sin.  Those who are truthful and good have nothing to fear from a light shining on their actions.

But perhaps those people ARE the light --

"Fear not then," said the angle,
"Let nothing you afright;
This day is born a Savior
Of Virgin pure and bright
To free all those who trust in him
From Satan's power and might"

My father told me once, as courtroom advice when we all thought I would end up a lawyer, that a good lawyer has nothing to fear from the truth if she knows it in time.  There is no fact that can hurt you if you know how to spin it.

I think about this a lot when I find myself afraid to know the answer to a pivotal question about my life or the world around me.  I think about the things I hide from myself in fear and shame.  And I wonder if it's too late for those things to be spun or if I just haven't been willing to engage with them.

And now, I will try to remember that the light coming is tidings of comfort and joy.  Not just joy, not just all the things you think of with a bright light, but comfort -- which is the opposite of what you think about alongside a call from God.

There is no Truth that can hurt us.

Lent is a time for repentance and rejuvenation, but the Church year begins with hope and comfort -- all this shall pass.  The light will shine down on us, and it will not be a fearful thing.  We bring tidings of comfort as well as joy.