Merry Christmastide!

I hope and pray the you had a joyous celebration of the incarnation and nativity this past Monday! I hope your celebrations are able to continue in some way this fourth day of Christmastide. 

As was mentioned on Christmas Eve, the joyous mystery of God becoming a child is worth celebration beyond one day. I hope that you are able to find time to feast with family and friends, to reflect upon, and to practice hospitality and generosity in light of this joyous mystery. I'm writing this from Fort Davis and it has been a delight to see Christmas lights and decorations in far-flung and isolated places as we've driven through West Texas.

In his sermon from Christmas Day in 1640, John Donne got at one aspect of the joy Christ’s coming brings: “He brought light out of darkness, not out of a lesser light; he can bring thy Summer out of Winter, though thou have no Spring… all occasions invite his mercies, and all times are his seasons.” This truth seems especially integral as today is also the Feast of the Holy Innocents (Matt. 2:13-18), a reminder that Christ comes into a world of real darkness and injustice. 

This Sunday we will have a special “Lessons & Carols” service (Sprouts and Roots will be off this week). We will chart the story of salvation with various readings from Scripture and have a final chance to sing carols together as a community. This is among my favorite services of the year. On Monday, January 1st we'll also begin having a casual time of celebration at the Parish House; see below for details. I hope you can join us for these final celebrations of the season! 

Rejoicing in the mystery with you,

Peter+