Christmas Letter from the Rector

Dear people of Trinity,

           A music friend shared a story with me, about the choir at St. Olaf College. It seems that the choir has a tradition, when they are presenting a piece that they’ve memorized, of holding hands as they sing. When one of the singers needs to take a breath, they squeeze the hand of their partner, to ask the partner to sustain the note being sung. This gives the person the time they need to breathe and keeps the music going. The choir members are there for each other.

“All flourishing is mutual,” observes writer and scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer, and the story of the St. Olaf singers demonstrates that. Maybe today, you’ll be the one who needs someone to sustain the note; tomorrow, your partner may ask you to sustain them.

           I love this story because it’s a simple and clear demonstration of the idea that God made us to be for each other. That is the message of the incarnation, which we celebrate at Christmas: God coming into the world in the person of Jesus—the ultimate expression of “Imago Dei”—that humanity is made in the image of God. And in that image, we have tremendous, perhaps limitless, capacity for love, generosity, and service. (For some practical ideas for how to love and give and serve this Christmas season, I offer you this poetic tree…)

                                                                                              ★

This

Christmas

end a quarrel.

Seek out a forgotten

friend. Dismiss suspicion,

and replace it with trust.

Write a love letter, share some

treasure. Give a soft answer. Keep

a promise. Find the time. Forgo a grudge.

Forgive an enemy. Listen. Apologize if you

were wrong. Try to understand. Examine your

demands on others. Think first of someone else.

Be kind. Be gentle. Appreciate. Laugh a little. Laugh a

little more. Express your gratitude. Gladden the heart of a

child. Welcome a stranger. Take pleasure in the beauty and the

wonder of Earth.

Speak your love.

Speak it again.

Speak it yet

Once again.

Blessings to you, this Christmas season and beyond, to live into the image of God who comes among us, to breathe sustaining love and light into this fragile and beautiful world.

Elizabeth+

The Rev. Elizabeth Molitors, Rector

Trinity Episcopal Church