Woke up

Dear Friends in Christ,

As the seasons change, the angle of the light coming into the Rectory changes.  It is now coming through the kitchen windows reminding me of Joni Mitchell’s, Chelsea Morning:

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
And the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey
And a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch
And stuck to all my senses.

Mitchell wrote it when she was living in the Chelsea district of New York, so she includes a verse about traffic noise:

Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning
And the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window
And the traffic wrote the words

It came ringing up like Christmas bells
And rapping up like pipes and drums.

This is also the experience of waking up in the Rectory:  the neighborhood coming awake, families bringing their children to school, people in a hurry to get to work.

The sunlight and the traffic sounds create a perfect opportunity to ask God’s blessing on the day and all the plans and aspirations that the morning’s bustle represents.  Psalm 118 reminds us:

This is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Mitchell’s mention of Christmas reminds us that Advent will soon be upon us.  The words of the season are Wait, Watch, Prepare; Stir up your souls and be ready..  I have attached an Advent and Christmas calendar of events that was put together by Alison Vail, a member of Zion.  You can print it out or get your own copy on Sunday so that you can put it on your refrigerator and refer to it often.  You will not want to miss a single opportunity!

Faithfully yours,

Rebecca