O
Illuminated Night!
An Advent Carol Service
St Andrew’s on the Terrace
8 December 2002, 7.30pm
Choir: In Dreams Fran Walsh and Howard Shore
When the
cold of winter comes, starless night will cover day.
In the
veiling of the sun we will walk in bitter rain;
But in
dreams I can hear your name,
And in dreams
we will meet again.
When the
seas and mountains fall and we come to end of days,
In the dark
I hear a call, calling me there.
I will go
there and back again.
Reading: from Virgin Territory Sara Maitland
Remember, I
am also Sophia, the joyful wisdom, the child at play, who dances in the small
open space on the hard bright sand before the eternal throne. I am the
everlaughing baby, who sings the creation into life; I am the voice of the
voiceless moments, I am the space for dancing, I am the dancer and the dance.
Don’t be afraid, come to me and live outside the rules. Chaos is not dark, as
opposed to light, chaos is before all light and dark, and after it. In chaos
you cannot walk, but you can dance.
All: Draw the circle wide Gordon Light
Draw the circle wide.
Draw it wider still.
Let this be our song,
No one stands alone,
standing side by side
draw the circle wide.
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1 |
God the
stillpoint of the circle, Round
whom all creation turns; Nothing
lost, but held forever, In God’s
gracious arms. |
2 |
Let our
hearts touch far horizons, So
encompass great and small; Let our
loving know no borders, Faithful
to God’s call. |
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Let the
dreams we dream be larger, Than
we’ve ever dreamed before; Let the
dream of Christ be in us, Open
every door. |
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The Bidding Prayer
Beloved
friends, let it be our joy and delight to join again the dance of the angels,
and in heart and mind to go with them and see the wonder of our world set out
before us.
But first,
let us pray for the needs of the whole world; for peace on earth and goodwill
among all people; for concord and communion, and especially among this
congregation gathered here.
Let us
remember all those for whom justice has not yet been done and for whom peace is
but a dream: the poor, the helpless, the cold, the hungry, the oppressed and
those at war.
Lastly let
us remember before God all those who dance with us, but on another shore, and
in a greater light, that multitude which we cannot number, whose hope was in
the Dance made flesh, and with whom, in Jesus, we are one for evermore.
These
prayers and praises let us offer to the Eternal Spirit.
All: Prayer to the Eternal Spirit Jim Cotter
Eternal
Spirit,
Life-Giver,
Pain-Bearer, Love-Maker,
Source of
all that is and that shall be,
Father and
Mother of us all,
Loving God,
in whom is heaven:
The
hallowing of your name echo through the universe!
The way of
your justice be followed by the peoples of the world!
Your
heavenly will be done by all created beings!
Your
commonwealth of peace and freedom sustain our hope and come on earth.
With the
bread we need for today, feed us.
In the
hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of
temptation and test, strengthen us.
From trials
too great to endure, spare us.
From the
grip of all that is evil, free us.
For you
reign in the glory of the power that is love,
now and for
ever.
AMEN
Song: Sure on this shining night Words: James Agee, Music: Samuel Barber
Sure on
this shining night of star made shadows round
Kindness
must watch for me this side the ground.
The late
year lies down the north.
All is
healed, all is health.
High summer
holds the earth.
Hearts all
whole.
Sure on
this shining night I weep for wonder
Wandering
far alone
Of shadows
on the stars.
Reading:Harakeke from Uenuku Trixie Te Arama Menzies
Roots
clustered, entwined in the body of Papatuanuku
In slow
searching plant time, patiently growing
Seedheads
leaning, reaching upward to Rangi
Gathering
light and air, sunshine and strength
Into fibres
for the scraping, the soaking, the rolling,
Delicate
golds and half tones of different green
Humble colours,
not dazzling like scarlet kaka feathers
Not
striking like the bright plumes of kotuku or hawk
But homely,
strong as a woman built for childbearing
Provider of
warp and weft, the fabric of being.
Wharikitia
te whare mo te manuhiri
Kia pai
te whare mo te manuhiri
The house
must be prepared to welcome the manuhiri
The whariki
woven and spread, life is the guest -
On the
whariki we were conceived and born, and there we slept
Feeling it
firm beneath us, sheltering and warm.
The whariki
supported our coupling and when life was spent
There we
were laid to be mourned, our spirit farewelled
At the last
we were wrapped in a whariki, returned to Earth.
Season
succeeded on season, dark followed light
Unblinking
eyes of our foremothers gazed to the future
To us their
descendants, knowing their strength was sufficient
Despite
betrayal for guns, death in the swamps
Bequeathing
a cloak to cover us, a kete for treasures.
We are part
of the pattern that must never be broken
We must
continue the weaving, even the bruised ones
Our work
will fashion the nets to catch the stars.
All: O come, O come, Emmanuel arr. David Willcocks
All:
O come, O come, Emmanuel! Redeem thy captive Israel,
That into exile drear is gone far from the face of God's dear Child.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Men:
O come, thou Branch of Jesse! Draw the quarry from the lion's claw;
From the dread caverns of the grave, from nether hell thy people save.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Choir:
O come, O come, thou Dayspring bright! Pour on our souls thy
healing light;
Dispel the long night's lingering gloom, and pierce the shadows of the tomb.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Men:
O come, thou God of David's key! The royal door fling wide and free;
Safeguard for us the heavenward road, and bar the way to death's abode.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
All:
O come, O come, Adonaï, who in thy glorious majesty
From that high mountain clothed with awe gavest thy folk elder law.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.
Reading: I am who I am Carter Heyward
The people of Israel wanted to know
more about this God in whose being they were bound up. So Moses spoke to God
and asked God what he, Moses, was to tell the people God's name was. For the
Israelites there was much in a name - the revelation of a person's true
character.
And God responded. God did not give
a long list of credentials or a speech about power, authority, and might. God
did not spell things out, but responded "I AM WHO I AM".
God could hardly have given a more
enigmatic reply; certainly it was evasive. God was evasive. Moses could
not pin God down. Approaching God in fear and tremors, seeking clarification,
he is met with a riddle. I am who I am.
What is God saying?
Could it be that God is not
being evasive, but rather clear, straightforward, and to the point? And that
the point is that God is, in fact, evasive, elusive, not one to be
pinned down, boxed into categories and expectations? God will be what God will
be:
God will hang on the gallows.
God will inspire poets and artists.
God will be battered as a wife.
God will judge with righteousness,
justice and mercy those who batter, burn, sneer, discriminate, or harbour
prejudice.
God will have a mastectomy.
God will experience the wonder of
giving birth.
God will be handicapped.
God will run the marathon.
God will win.
God will lose.
God will be down and out, suffering,
dying.
God will be bursting free, coming to
life, for God will be who God will be.
If this is so, then God is
suggesting to the people of Israel and to us that the very minute we think we have
God, God will surprise us. As we search in fire and earthquakes, God will be in
the still small voice. As we listen in silent meditation, God will be shouting
protests on the street. God is warning us that we had best not try to find our
security in any well-defined concept or category of what is Godly - for the
minute we believe we are into God, God is off again and calling us forth into
some unknown place.
Song: When you believe Steven Schwartz
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1 |
Many
nights we’ve prayed with no
proof anyone could hear. In our
hearts a hopeful song we barely
understood. Now we
are not afraid, although
we know there’s much to fear: We were
moving mountains long before
we knew we could. |
2 |
In this
time of fear, when
prayer so often proved in vain, hope
seemed like the summer birds, too
swiftly flown away. Yet now
I’m standing here, with
heart so full I can’t explain, seeking
faith and speaking words I thought
I’d never say. |
You can make miracles when you believe;
Though hope is frail it’s hard to kill.
Who knows what miracles you can achieve,
When you believe somehow you will,
You will when you believe.
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Ashira l'Adonai ki gaoh gaah. Micha mocha ba-elim Adonai, Micha mocha ne darbakodesh. Na chitah v’chasd’cha am zu
ga-alta. Ashira, ashira, ashira. |
I will praise God Who is like You among powers, God? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praise, doing wonders? |
Reading: from AIDS : the spiritual dilemma John Fortunato
The most
powerful place from which to renew the face of the earth is the bottom of the
heap.
I often
think of the motley crew of gay and lesbian Christian refugees I hang out with
as a remnant, as our Jewish forebears in the desert were a remnant. Banished
from Egypt with no sure home to go to, with no societal myth to hide behind,
they too were thrust down to their spiritual roots. And in that desolate place,
they glimpsed in an incredibly powerful way the unity of God.
The
alternative to trying to force our way back into the myth is to embrace our
exile. Not passively. Not with resignation. But with vigour and passion.
Drinking deeply from the cup we have been passed as an oppressed people, seeing
it as an opportunity both for profound spiritual deepening and for being
empowered to do some very holy work in an especially potent way.
And what is
that work? Just to love. And in our case, frequently enough, to love anyway.
To give when nobody wants our gifts. To be present when many would like us to
go away. To speak our pain when most would rather ignore it. We are called be.
To be fully who we are. In the moment. In the world. That is loving.
Carol: Leander
Early American hymn arr. D.G.
Come, let us join our cheerful songs with
angels round the throne,
A thousand thousand are their tongues, and all
their joys are one.
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But we
are come to Zion’s hill The city
of our God, Where
milder words declare God’s will, And
spread great love around. |
There
shall we join, and never tire, To sing
immortal lays, And with
the bright seraphic choir, Sound
forth Immanuel’s praise. |
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Behold
the innumerable host Of angels
clothed in light. Behold
the spirits of the just whose
faith is turned to sight! |
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Reading: Meditation 2 from the Third Century of Meditations Thomas Traherne (1699)
All
appeared New, and Strange at the first, inexpressibly rare, and Delightfull,
and Beautifull. I was a little Stranger which at my Enterance into the
world was Saluted and Surrounded with innumerable Joys. My Knowledg was
Divine. My very Ignorance was Advantageous. I seemed as one Brought
into the Estate of Innocence. All Things were Spotles and Pure and
Glorious: yea, and infinitly mine, and Joyfull and Precious. I knew not
that there were any Sins or Complaints, or Laws. I Dreamed not of
Poverties Contentions or Vices. All Tears and Quarrels, were hidden from
mine Eys. Evry Thing was at Rest, Free, and Immortal. I knew
Nothing of Sickness or Death or Exaction, in the Absence of these I was Entertained
like an Angel with the Works of GOD in their Splendor and Glory; I saw all in
the Peace of Eden ; Heaven and Earth did sing my Creators Praises, and could
not make more Melody to Adam and Eve, then to me. All Time was Eternity,
and a Perpetual Sabbath. Is it not Strange, that an Infant should be Heir
of the World, and see those Mysteries which the Books of the Learned never
unfold?
Choir: Laudate Dominum Mozart
Praise God all you nations!
Praise God all you peoples!
God’s love for us is strong
and God’s faithfulness lasts forever.
Reading: All mothers speak to Mary Ruth Sawyer
Send forth
the star;
And Mary,
take his hand –
He may not
understand
How changed
we are.
Light
towering candles, rim
The earth
with them;
Let angels
sing “Amen”
To his
birth-hymn.
Let your
sweet laughter
When he was
born
Fill this
dark time
Sky-rafter to
rafter.
Mary, can
you see
Between the
suns
The road
that runs
From manger
to Calvary?
Let him not
fear our measure
Of hate and
gall;
He is too
small
For agony
of soul.
Make then
his coming bright
On earth;
let every door
Swing wide
with peace; nor
Let one
evil thing blot out the night.
All: Come now where we least expect you Words: Marnie Barrell Music: Herbert Howells
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Come now
where we least expect you, |
2 |
Come
where we have tried to own you |
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Christ our
hope and longing, come. |
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Locked
within the distant past, |
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Show us
where we still reject you |
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where
your Church has scarcely known you, |
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in the
world you made your home. |
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where the
least remain the last. |
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Look around!
Christ is found |
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Enter
still where you will, |
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far
beyond our sacred ground. |
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Come to
challenge and fulfil. |
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Christ-child,
come in loving kindness; |
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come,
great Judge whom angels praise! |
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Heal us of
our pride and blindness, |
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purge our
hearts and change our ways, |
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God’s own
Word, love outpoured, |
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come to
us, O Christ our God. |
Reading: from The
Singing Tree
Kate Seredy
A story told by a Hungarian who fought during the First World War.
Last Christmas Eve we had received orders to be
prepared for a surprise attack against the Russians. Our trenches had been under
heavy fire for days; we had either to retreat or to advance, and those who plan
the moves of war decided on an advance.
We had been waiting for hours, crouching
against the walls of our trenches, when the word came: “Go.”
We crept out into the snow, countless silent
dark shapes against the whiteness, and ran to the sunken road which lay between
our lines and the mountainside where the Russian trenches were. Shells screamed
overhead and burst behind us, drowning out all noise we might have made, and when
we reached the road, whispered orders from the Captain scurried down the line
like mice: “Advance along the road. Don’t dare make a sound or strike a light.”
We tramped in knee-deep snow, skirting the
friendly hillside that sheltered us from the Russians. And then, just ahead of
me I saw a boy kneel in the snow before a wayside crucifix and light a candle.
It flickered in the still air, casting a feeble light on the image of Christ
above it. “Oh Lord,” the man next to me sighed, reaching into his knapsack for
a candle. Others had seen the glowing light, and as I looked around I saw that
more and more candles were lighted all around. A whisper spread, “Light a
candle for Christmas Eve,” men whispered and their very words seemed to turn
into tiny stars as dozens and dozens, then hundreds of candles came forth from
the knapsacks to be lighted and stuck in the snow. The hillside was one glow of
light and the crucifix was bright with an unearthly brightness. We were a
target for the Russian guns, but we never gave it a thought. For a little while
we were lost in prayer, until one of the men cried: “They have stopped firing.
Look!”
Across the valley, on the hillside where the
Russians were entrenched, a few small flames began to tremble, then more and
more. Candles, hundreds of them, thousands, one for every gun that now was
silent. Around me men began to sing “Holy Night, Silent Night,” and from across
the valley the song came back to us a thousandfold. Behind the lines so facing
each other, the guns had ceased to roar and no more shells were screaming
between us and the stars. Perhaps the Christ Child had walked between the lines
and while he walked, peace had stopped the guns.
Song: Catch the Flame Rosie Salas (2002)
There’s a
fire in me that has been burning all my life
To find out
what I can and to share what I can
And I look
for that flame in those I meet
And I live
for the times the flame leaps to catch the fire that burns in me.
Catch
the flame! Pass it on!
Let the
fire in me feed the fire in you,
Pass
around the fire of love and life.
Since we
met, we have come to know each other very well
I have
tried to share what I hold most dear
And now you
are moving on,
And there’s
something of me in you
And I’ll
cherish the part of you that lives in me.
For it’s
not that I have all the answers, and that you only have to learn
I have
learnt of beauty, life and love through knowing you,
And the
next one that I meet will catch a flame from me
That is
partly a flame from you.
Reading: Suddenly there is light all around Bronwyn Angela White (2002)
and the
silences
of morning
a small
town
waking
birds
distant cattle
work-bound traffic on the road
outside
voices, muted and curious
laughter, footsteps
Such an ordinary light
skimming a cup
nudging the rim of a bowl
gilding one wooden arm
of an old chair
dust spangling in sunshine
The smell
of grass, baled hay
and wood
smoke
bread fresh
from a nearby oven
earth
and blood
and new
milk
And the
brightness
the
dizzying, commonplace brilliance of
oh! falling in love:
the universe contracts
into one blessed trinity
of elbow, breast and fontanelle
All: Once in Judah’s
least known city
John Bell
The first
verse will be sung by solo voices.
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Once in
Judah’s least known city |
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Can he
know our youth and childhood’s pattern |
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Stood a
boarding house with back-door shed, |
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When we
know not how he daily grew? |
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Where an
almost single-parent mother |
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Was he
always little, weak and helpless, |
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Tried to
find her new-born son a bed. |
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Did he
share our joys and problems too? |
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Mary’s
mum and dad went wild |
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In our
laughter, fun and madness, |
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When they
heard their daughter had a child. |
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Does the
Lord of love suspect our gladness? |
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He
brought into earth a sense of heaven, |
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Not in
that uncharted stable |
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Lord of
none and yet the Lord of all; |
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With the village
gossips standing by, |
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And his
shelter always was unstable |
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But in
heaven we shall see him - |
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For his
mission was beyond recall. |
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Here as
much as up above the sky - |
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With the
poor, with those least holy, |
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If, in love
for friend and stranger, |
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Christ
the King was pleased to live so lowly. |
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We
embrace the baby in the manger. |
Reading: Holy Night Lucille Clifton
joseph, i
afraid of stars,
their
brilliant seeing.
so many
eyes, such light,
joseph, i
cannot still these limbs,
i hands
keep moving toward i breasts,
so many
stars, so bright.
joseph is
wind burning from east
joseph, i shine,
oh joseph, oh
illuminated
night.
Choir: Indigo 1 Jenny McLeod
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All about
the deep of night A
brightness came upon us. Deeper still,
and stiller yet the
silence where it found us. Come O
Star, O Star from highest heaven sent Come O
holy Star most eloquent. |
Holy Star
come both for sorrow and for joy. Come, O
purest love’s poetic envoy. Every
star then seemed to shine new glory
round the sky, and wisdom to arise. Far
beyond the sea, beyond the sky, The holy
kingdom lies. |
Reading: Godfires Keri Hulme (1993)
When a child
is born into my family group, or to one of my good friends, I light a bonfire
on the beach. Haere mai ki Te ao marama, e te pepe! You’ve got a long way to go
before you become a full human being, baby, but welcome to the world of light.
When someone
I love, or respect dies, I light a bonfire on the beach. The sparks fly up, the
sparks drown in the dark. Don’t know where you’ve gone to, friend, don’t know
whether you are still there, but here’s a light to show respect, to show my
love. E te hoa, haere haere haere ki Te Po.
Hogmanay
fires, solstice fires, fires for celebration and fires for grieving. Some with
wine or whisky, some with the water of tears. Some fires solitary, some rowdy
with crowds. Some small as a candle, and some where the flames spire fifty feet
up in the air.
Mana is
fire, said the old people, a bit mysteriously.
We are
fragile, limited beings, and the elemental forces have been around a lot longer
than us. One way or the other, when humanity is done, fire and earth and water will
still be here.
Meanwhile,
kia ora tatou katoa...
Responsories for Christmas in Aotearoa Rosie Salas
Now in the
stillness of the dark we wait.
We await
the birth of eternal light.
Haere
mai, e Ihu.
Here we
keep watch with the Mother of God;
pondering
in our hearts throughout this night.
Haere
mai, e Ihu.
Come, and
welcome to our lives O Christ;
Be the ray
that clears our sight.
Haere
mai, nau mai, e Ihu.
We await the
birth and rebirth of hope,
Illuminating
our way with radiant quiet.
Haere
mai, nau mai, e Ihu.
All: Indigo II Jenny McLeod
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Light of
lights beholden we from
days of olden sang this
song for to
understand that
peace upon this planet was
pledged to come. Each to
other, sister, brother, born for
life and song, look
towards the light and carry on: let
the simple heart and hope among us keep
our family strong. (choir
only) Light calling, night falling |
Darkness
all around us, light has
always found us, light
will come where the
dark is deepest, greater
light will keep us safe from
harm. Troubled
times will always find a voice
of troubled doom, look
towards the light and carry on: let
the simple heart and hope among us keep
our family strong. Let
the simple heart and hope among us Keep
our family strong. |
All: Collect for Advent Janet Morley
You are
home to the exile
touch to
the frozen
daylight to
the prisoner
authority
to the silent
anger to
the helpless
laughter to
the weary
direction
to the joyful
Come, our
God, come.
Blessing (turn to each other and say together) Fra Giovanni
There is
nothing which I can give you which you have not;
but there
is much that, while I cannot give, you may take.
No heaven
can come to us unless our minds find rest in it today.
Take
heaven.
No peace
lies in the future which is not hidden in the present instant.
Take peace.
The gloom
of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet within reach is joy.
Take joy.
And so, at
this Christmas, I greet you with the trust that for you, now and for ever, the
day is reborn and the shadows fall away.
Take
Christmas.
Choir: Come now, Lord Jesus Shirley Murray
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Come now,
Lord Jesus, enter our Christmas, |
Come,
cold and crying, comfort denying, |
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Be to us
no stranger in this new made manger. |
No place
to receive you, few yet to believe you. |
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Come
small and human, born of a woman, |
Come poor
and simple, enter our temple, |
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Yet a Son
much greater of our own Creator. |
In your
body feeling hurt as well as healing. |
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Come gift
and token, bread to be broken, |
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star and
sign still point you, myrrh will yet anoint you. |
Thanks
to all who took part in this service, particularly the members of the choir,
who turned up faithfully on Friday evenings to rehearse no matter how tired
they were. I estimate that approximately 1000 person hours have gone into
preparing this service!
Thanks also
to the instrumentalists, Peter, Clare, Dick, Mary Ellen, Deb, Ken, Martin and
Ann-Marie, and the vocal soloists, Rosie, Clare, Georgia, Martin and David for
the extra work you have put in.