Lutheran Volunteer Corps

For Sat. Dec. 9 - Cast out our sin and enter in...

I like to think I have a decent singing voice; not bad, but not the best either. I do love to sing though, so I was overjoyed when I had one shining moment of singing success: I was accepted after an audition for a choir comprised of students from the various schools of the huge University of London (when I went to school in London in 2004 and 2005). We sang services at a few churches and cathedrals in London and throughout eastern England, often in order to give the normal choirs of those houses of worship a day off!

The service for evening prayer contains the Nunc Dimittis/Song of Simeon ("Lord, let thou thy servant depart in peace..."), and we often used a choral setting of that text from Luke 2 by the Irish composer C.V. Stanford. As we sang the line where Simeon proclaims that the newborn Jesus will be a "light to lighten the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32), the tune jumped up several notes and several levels of volume. The effect of the swell in the music coupled with the promising words we sang (especially "light") was so majestic that it sent chills down my spine. Music is one of the best ways that I can encounter God, and it is why I find the Advent season such a rich time; the sheer volume of music that speaks of the approaching birth of Jesus is enough to provide plenty of these chilling moments. These moments help me to focus on waiting for the arrival of the one who promises both salvation and justice. I hope you use this season to do the same.

posted by Scott @ 2:12 PM