Dean's Letter

December 2008

From The Very Reverend David Bird, Ph.D., Dean and Rector

God's Vision of a World at Peace

In response to an email question I received recently, I looked up a passage from a sermon resource I read some time ago. The passage reads thus:

In one of Walker Percy’s novels, The Second Coming, a little broken group of people set out to rebuild the human race. There is a girl whose mind has been blown by shock therapy, a man whose heart is damaged, a disabled carpenter, a wheezy older nurse with hypertension, a missionary priest so inept that all he can do is to remember a few formulae for
the blessing of children. Together, and with great excitement, they set out to rebuild their world as a new community, and in the excitement, one of them cries out, "I believe that Christ will come. There are unmistakable signs in these present times."

"What is the sign?" asks the preacher. It is "the unmistakable presence of broken people, filled with longing for the new community, damaged [people] putting their lives together with a saw and a hammer" and, we might add, heaven knows what else.

Somehow this reflection on Walter Percy’s writing unerringly captures the spirit of Advent, the season of hope. For that reason I am so grateful that I grew up in a tradition that clearly distinguishes Advent from Lent, not least by insisting that blue is the correct color for our non-white robes and not the purple of Lent. Advent and Lent should be as distinct from each other as are Christmas and Easter.

In Lent, we examine ourselves in the light of Christ’s sacrificial death upon the cross. In Advent, we prepare the way in our hearts for the ultimate revelation of what it means both to be fully human and fully God–Jesus of Nazareth. Advent reveals God’s vision of a world at peace, a world in which “wars and rumors of wars shall cease.” All shall be equal under God. The most beloved Canticle of the season of Advent is the Magnificat, placed in Luke’s Gospel upon the lips of Jesus’ mother, Mary:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior; *
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed: *
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, *
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel, *
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.

The timing of the newsletter this month almost exactly parallels the beginning of Advent. I am grateful for this because it enables us to focus upon what many see as the essential prelude
to Christmas: the hope which enters our hearts as we prepare them for the annual rebirth of the spirit and vision of the Christ in our own lives and, ultimately, throughout all creation.

— David

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