Voices Found # 155
Wisdom freed a holy people,
blameless from oppressor's sword,
and withstood with signs and wonders,
rulers' dread, to serve the Lord.
Words: Patricia B. Clark
Music: Holton Holgate, William Boyce (1711-1179)
Matthew 2:10-12 is appointed for the Feast of the Epiphany Year C in the Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church
When the Sages saw that the star had stopped, they rejoiced: their joy was exuberant. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they fell down and reverenced him. Then, opening their treasure, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And, having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road. tr. Gafney
Reflection:
"A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey;
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter."
And the camels galled, sore-footed, and refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night- fires going out,
and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches ,
With the voices singing in our ears,
saying
That this was all folly.
then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetations;
With a running stream and a water-mill
beating in the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky.
And an old white horse galloped away
in the meadow.
then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver;
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information so we continued
And arrived at evening, not a moment too
soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say)
satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all this way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth,
certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this
Birth was hard and bitter agony for us, like Death
our death.
We returned to these places, these
Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here in the old
dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
T. S. Elliot(1888-1965)
Journey of the Magi 1927
Elliot foreshadows the Crucifixion. Matthew also points to impending doom by the sword: execution by Herod's decree, much like Pharoah's. Matthew points our that, in their wisdom the Sages took courage. They defied Herod. For the Child's freedom, they embarked on a longer, more tortuous journey home. They saved the Holy Family. More precious than gold, they offered the gift of salvation from Herod's sword.
Meditation:
The Gifts
Voices Found # 118
What gift can we bring, what present, what token,
What words can convey it the joy of this day?
When grateful we come, remembering, rejoicing,
what song can we offer in honor and praise?
Words and Music: Jane Marshall (1924-2019)
Prayer:
Voices Found #142
Bless now, O God the journey that all your people make,
the path through noise and silence, the way of give and take.
The trail is found in deserts and winds the mountain round,
then leads beside still waters,
the road where faith is found.
Bless sojourners and pilgrims who share this winding way--
whose hope burns throughout the terrors whose love sustains the day.
We yearn for holy freedom, while often we are bound.
Together we are seeking the road where faith is found.
Divine eternal lover, you meet us on the road.
We wait for land of promise where milk and honey flow.
But waiting not for places--you meet us all around.
Your covenant is written on roads, as faith is found.
Words: Sylvia G. Dunstan (1955-1993)
Music: Ana Hernandez
More information about these hymns and performance suggestions are in The Leader's Guide to Voices Found. https://www.churchpublishing.org/products/voicesfound2
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