Awake my soul

I am catching up on Biola Univ. Advent Project this morning and 
December 5th has captured my heart. Awake my soul awake my tongue
is the song you can hear and a thoughtful painting of the morning. 

I am thinking about time. Doing the next best thing. 
I need to lean into this line: Christ came to redeem for all times and seasons. 

and this :  
I try to awake to the truth that every day is as sacred as the next, and that God’s invitation to salvation, holiness, and hope shimmers just as brightly as the magis’ star if I manage to open my eyes and wake up. 

                                       Patty Wickman, “Passion Painting”. 1999, oil on canvas.



I “feel” Christmas most on the actual day—“feel” the most determined to live a life that honors the phenomenon of the Incarnation.  But what about July?  What about those “common” days seemingly removed from the symbolism and communal celebration?  In her book, For the Time Being, Annie Dillard reminds us, “There is no less holiness at this time—as you are reading this—than there was on the day the Red Sea parted, or that day in the 30th year, in the 4th month, on the 5th day of the month as Ezekiel was a captive by the river Cheban, when the heavens opened and he saw visions of God.”

Christ came to redeem for all times and seasons.  


 Awake my Soul, Awake my Tongue Lyrics

Awake, my soul, awake, my tongue,
My glory wake and sing,
To celebrate the holy birth,
Of Israel’s King!

Oh awake, oh awake my soul
Oh awake, oh awake my soul
Oh awake, oh awake my soul

Awake my soul, my tongue, awake me
O happy this night that brought forth the light,
Which makes the blind to see,
The Dayspring from on high came down to thee

In Bethlehem the Christ child he lies,
Within a place obscure,
Your Savior’s come,