Behold a host, arrayed in white,
Like thousand snowclad mountains bright;
With palms they stand,
Who is this band
Before the throne of light?
Lo, these are they, of glorious fame,
Who from the great affliction came.
And in the flood of Jesus blood
Are cleansed from guilt and blame.
Now gathered in the holy place,
Their voices they in worship raise;
Their anthems swell where God doth dwell
Mid angels' songs of praise.
8 comments:
Call me strange, but I LOVE the end of the church year. ;)
Yes. That's what prompted this, albeit a bit premature. Dark Lutherans love the end of the church year.
"Abide with us Lord, for it is toward evening and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us in the end of the day, in the end of our life, and in the end of the world..."
And then comes Advent, another Dark season. Gotta love it.
I most likely belong in the "Dark Lutheran" club.
But I'm embarassed to say, I don't even know when the end of the church year is.
The end of the church year is right before Advent. I know that much. Not sure of the exact date.
Thank you, daughter! Advent, four Sundays before Xmas, begins the church year. There is fluctuation when it comes to Easter, which does not fall on the same Sunday of the year. Because of that, there is fluctuation as to how many Lord's Days after Easter there are to the end of the year, and that can vary by two to three weeks. Check out the Wikipedia input for "Liturgical Year" and you'll find more. In any case, the end of the year relates to the end of the age: "endness" is the theme, so our thoughts are cast to the Church Triumphant and to eschatology: our own and the world's.
The church year has gone through many changes over the millenia, yet the concept--still foreign among evangelicals--is that we walk each year through the whole counsel of Christ, from the OT period of waiting upon Christ (Advent), to his birth-celebrated in 12 days, not just one!--to Epiphany, little Lent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the Trinity season which carries us through to the end of the year. The Advent-to-Easter part of the year is also called the festival season sometimes. If you pick up a daily devotion such as EVERY DAY SHALL I BLESS THEE or the ELS-published BOOK OF FAMILY PRAYER (among many others), you'll be carried along daily through the lection and the year, a very edifying routine. You can get the latter book through Bethany College Bookstore.
I wonder what response I would get if I listed my religious affiliation as "Dark Lutheran" on my Facebook profile. It would actually open an interesting door to explain myself...
Evan, as long as you're always ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an accout for the dark hope that is in you, yet with dark gentleness and dark reverence!
Let's serve up that bowl of Mournful Oatmeal, people, and snag it back from the Calvinists!
(Ok, that's only going to make sense to you if you listen to Prairie Home Companion...)
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