A Word from Pastor Nathan

Dear Friends:

A recent member’s confession of his love for Hallmark Christmas movies has provided me with the courage to tell you the truth: I love poetry. One of my favorite poets is Emily Dickinson. She wrote the following:

I SING to use the waiting,
My bonnet but to tie,
And shut the door unto my house;
No more to do have I,

Till, his best step approaching,
We journey to the day,
And tell each other how we sang
To keep the dark away.

We sing to use the waiting during the season of Advent. Just as Dickinson is preparing for her love to arrive, so we reflect on our lives and faith in order to prepare for the babe of Bethlehem to be born anew in the manger of our hearts. One of the Advent hymns we sing is O Come, O Come Emmanuel, whose melodic line is one of the oldest hymn tunes in the Chalice Hymnal. The melody comes from a chant that was attached to Mary’s Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). When we sing this hymn, we join our voices with people who, for two millennia, have sung variations of this poem and tune to use the waiting.

Dickinson’s poem, however, reveals another truth: She is not the only one singing! The one whom Dickinson expects also sings to use the waiting.

What if we are not the only ones singing this Advent? How would we re-imagine Advent if we listened for God’s singing and God’s best step approaching as we journey to the day of Christmas?

Hear—and sing—the good news, beloved. We are singing with one another as the church, and God is singing, too. Soon and very soon, we will tell each other how we sang to keep the dark away!

Sing to use the waiting this Advent, dear church!

Nathan