'The harvest of righteousness shall be sown in peace
by those who make peace.' (Letter of St James)
Friends of The Little Sisters of Joy
an ecumenical foundation
of
Prayer, Peace and Reconciliation
Newsletter no 9
Christmas 2007
‘Adam lay y-bounden
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
Thought he not too long;
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took,
As clerkes finden written
In theire book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne hadde never Our Lady
A been heaven’s queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was!
Therefore we may singen
‘Deo Gracias!’
My dear Friends
I awoke at 6am wondering where to find the inspiration for this Newsletter. Turning on the radio, I heard the above ancient anonymous carol being sung by the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir, conducted by John Rutter! It contains the whole theology of Christmas and the incarnation of Christ, through the Virgin Mary. It succinctly links the Old and New Testaments, in stating that it was through Adam’s choice of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so contravening God’s will, that Christ came to save us.
From an historical point of view, clearly stated in the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, the Messiah is rooted in his Jewish heritage, as is Joseph, his ‘foster’ father. The story of the birth of Christ is both particular and universal at the same time.
It has to be from this standpoint that the business of Jewish-Christian reconciliation begins. For too long the theology has tended to be black and white; in reality, and with the experience and hindsight of my own life, lived first as an Orthodox Jew and in the last 18 years as a Jewish Christian, it is much more nuanced.
With the great Feasts of Light of Chanukah, the Winter Solstice and Christmas converging, we must ask ourselves what are the underlying human factors that we share, which can lead us to Peace. We are all on a journey of linear time, pierced at any moment by eternal time, endless and boundless. We can only ever see eternity in the moment, however we express it, by LOVE. At this momentous time of Christmas, when all human history converges on one tiny point, the birth of Christ, we are at the intersection of the past, the present and the future. It is a good time to assess our own lives, before leaping into the unknown of the New Year.
In 1989 I was in Amsterdam, to bring in the New year with my friend Chava. She was playing the piano, her mother was in the room and her grandmother was upstairs. Outside in the street they began to light bonfires. I was thinking of a very close friend and, as we went outside, I could feel the year actually ‘turn.’ There was a haze from the fires in the distance and we could have been anywhere…
2007 has been a year of great journeys for me. (Documented on the Blog.) Toronto last March, Hungary in August, Paris and Provence in September and Paris again this month. It has also been a time of personal healing and the realisation that, like the farmer tending his crops and waiting for the Spring and Autumn rains, we must be patient. Patient for reconciliation.
A new life beckons. While I am waiting to make the final leap, I have arranged to give another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, on February 16th 2008 in the Lee Hall in Wolfson College. Praying as I sing, with the audience singing with me, we will be asking for the healing of the world. Come and join us!
In the deep Joy of the Lord is your stronghold!
Shalom, and Shalom again now and in 2008
Sister Gila sistergila@hotmail.com
Bounden in a bond;
Four thousand winter
Thought he not too long;
And all was for an apple,
An apple that he took,
As clerkes finden written
In theire book.
Ne had the apple taken been,
The apple taken been,
Ne hadde never Our Lady
A been heaven’s queen.
Blessed be the time
That apple taken was!
Therefore we may singen
‘Deo Gracias!’
My dear Friends
I awoke at 6am wondering where to find the inspiration for this Newsletter. Turning on the radio, I heard the above ancient anonymous carol being sung by the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir, conducted by John Rutter! It contains the whole theology of Christmas and the incarnation of Christ, through the Virgin Mary. It succinctly links the Old and New Testaments, in stating that it was through Adam’s choice of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so contravening God’s will, that Christ came to save us.
From an historical point of view, clearly stated in the genealogy at the beginning of Matthew’s Gospel, the Messiah is rooted in his Jewish heritage, as is Joseph, his ‘foster’ father. The story of the birth of Christ is both particular and universal at the same time.
It has to be from this standpoint that the business of Jewish-Christian reconciliation begins. For too long the theology has tended to be black and white; in reality, and with the experience and hindsight of my own life, lived first as an Orthodox Jew and in the last 18 years as a Jewish Christian, it is much more nuanced.
With the great Feasts of Light of Chanukah, the Winter Solstice and Christmas converging, we must ask ourselves what are the underlying human factors that we share, which can lead us to Peace. We are all on a journey of linear time, pierced at any moment by eternal time, endless and boundless. We can only ever see eternity in the moment, however we express it, by LOVE. At this momentous time of Christmas, when all human history converges on one tiny point, the birth of Christ, we are at the intersection of the past, the present and the future. It is a good time to assess our own lives, before leaping into the unknown of the New Year.
In 1989 I was in Amsterdam, to bring in the New year with my friend Chava. She was playing the piano, her mother was in the room and her grandmother was upstairs. Outside in the street they began to light bonfires. I was thinking of a very close friend and, as we went outside, I could feel the year actually ‘turn.’ There was a haze from the fires in the distance and we could have been anywhere…
2007 has been a year of great journeys for me. (Documented on the Blog.) Toronto last March, Hungary in August, Paris and Provence in September and Paris again this month. It has also been a time of personal healing and the realisation that, like the farmer tending his crops and waiting for the Spring and Autumn rains, we must be patient. Patient for reconciliation.
A new life beckons. While I am waiting to make the final leap, I have arranged to give another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, on February 16th 2008 in the Lee Hall in Wolfson College. Praying as I sing, with the audience singing with me, we will be asking for the healing of the world. Come and join us!
In the deep Joy of the Lord is your stronghold!
Shalom, and Shalom again now and in 2008
Sister Gila sistergila@hotmail.com
