This month is quickly passing by and bringing my third year of 365 rapidly to a close. I find it hard to believe that we've already arrived at the third Sunday in Advent! Today's shot is a close-up of my Advent wreath. It's made of black metal and shaped like the silhouette of Bethlehem (well at least an artist's impression of what it looked like- but probably didn't!). I applied a texture in iPiccy to the background and liked the way it looked like a sunset.
So for those of you who asked, here's this week's devotional. Each Sunday in Advent a different aspect of the Christmas story is emphasized: first week- hope/expectation, second week- love/Jesus' lowly birth, third week- joy/the shepherds, and fourth week- peace/the angels' message. This year I combined the usual Bible readings with the stories behind some of our well-known and best-loved Christmas carols. You are by no means obligated to read on beyond this point, but I certainly appreciate it if you do!!
Third Sunday in Advent
The Book of Psalms has often been called Israel's Ancient Songbook and it is no surprise since even in translation words from these beloved songs retain their poetic qualities. Church history also bears out the popularity in using the Psalms for worship. During the Protestant Reformation and through the 18th century congregational singing, if it took place at all, mainly consisted of Psalms which had been set to music. These collections were known as "Psalters" and one of the most popular Psalters was the "Stemhold-Hopkins Psalter". Published in 1562, it was known for its faithful rendition of the Hebrew text, but this made it less "singer-friendly".
During the reign of William and Mary a new Psalter appeared on the scene. It was composed and compiled by two Irishmen and boasted a more metrical styling of the Psalms that kept in line with the literary tastes of the day. Initially it was met with resistance because most people felt that Nahum Tate (the son of an Irish clergyman and poet laureate of England) and Nicholas Brady (an Oxford educated clergyman of the Anglican Church) were being disloyal to the Psalms. But eventually, with the endorsement of King William III, it replaced the "Stemhold-Hopkins Psalter" and eventually made its way across the sea into the American Episcopal Church. In 1700 Tate and Brady published a supplement to their Psalter which contained 16 original hymns in addition to the metrical Psalms. Nestled among these original hymns was Tate's Christmas carol which depicted the angelic announcement to the shepherds found in Luke 2:8-14 and was set to an old English melody called "Winchester". In spite of a bumpy start, "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" became the only hymn to be approved by the Church of England in the 18th century which allowed it to be distributed as widely as the "Book of Common Prayer". Because its words were derived from Scripture, the carol was considered acceptable, unlike other tunes which had roots in folk music and were therefore considered secular.
It seems that humans are particularly interested in signs although in this day and age, science and reason fight desperately to discredit them. "There must be a logical explanation for this" is the 21st century person's answer to anything mysterious or unexplainable. Yet, thousands of year ago, in a grazing field outside of Bethlehem a band of attentive shepherds did anything but seek a logical explanation for the angelic being which brought them the Divine Birth Announcement. Instead they are frightened; a reaction completely opposite of what we would expect from seasoned outdoorsmen!
"Fear not," said he for mighty dread had seized their troubled mind,
"Glad tidings of great joy I bring to you and all mankind" echoes the hymn with Luke's account of the event. The shepherds are sent off to Bethlehem and given directions to find this Promised Savior.
"To you in David's town this day is born of David's line,
The Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this shall be the sign,
The heavenly babe you there shall find to human view displayed,
All meanly wrapped in swathing bands, and in a manger laid.
What an odd "sign" for a Savior! Under the oppressive hand of the Romans, the Israelites were looking for anything but a baby. No, a confident leader, a powerful conqueror, a mighty king was more of the sign they were looking for; not a baby born in the poorest of circumstances and resting in the feeding trough of a stable! And yet we are victims of the same mindset. We are often looking for Jesus in any way other than the way He comes to us. Like many before us, we seek the Victorious King and not the Humble Servant. But it doesn't have to be that way. We can be just as eager as the shepherds to discover Christ today. If we are willing to look we can find signs of Him in the most unusual places. May this Christmas season find us joining the shepherds in saying, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."
If you want to read more about the shepherds you can find it in the Bible in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2, verses 8-20.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my devotional. If you have any questions or want to make a personal comment to me, please feel free to email me at Olivetreeann@yahoo.com and put 365/Advent in the subject line so I know that your email is not spam!
@nicolecampbell Thank you Nicole! @espyetta Thank you Marybeth! Funny, I did one with stars too- but I felt I do that so often I should try something new and then landed on this.
@pandorasecho Thank you Dixie! I owe you one from last year!! I just ran out of funds- but this year they'll be coming even if it's in January! I'm glad you enjoyed the break!
Beautiful sharp creation, Ann and always a great story to go with it. I used this background on ipiccy a few times in the past and now can't remember where to find it? If you have time, let me know.
@netkonnexion Thank you so much Damon! @kerristephens Thank you Kerri! @maggiemae Thank you Maggie! @mzzhope Thank you Hope! @twr Thank you Timothy! @rhubbard Thank you Rich! Having been there, the silhouette has a mild resemblance to ancient architecture, but not Bethlehem's! However, our traditions have made this one what most people think of, so I enjoy it. This skyline is actually more like what you can see in Jerusalem- and that's not very far away from Bethlehem. @salza Thank you Sally! And thank you for taking the time to read them. I do appreciate that more than I can say! @summerfield Thank you Vikki! I take that as high praise from an accomplished writer like you! @taffy Thank you Taffy! And thank you so much for the fav!! @yaorenliu Thank you Yao! @ruthmouch Thank you Ruth! I don't know if you've traveled in to Israel at all, but this actually makes me smile. I was in Bethlehem in 2005 and didn't really see much architecture like this. It reminds me more of Jerusalem. But I still love the Advent wreath and the thought behind why it was given to me. @sangwann Thank you Dione! I really appreciate you taking the time to read it! @digitalrn Thank you Rick! My! You said that soo tactfully! @cimes1 Thank you Carole! And thank you for reading my piece. This texture can be found in Texture under the heading "lights". It will appear a bit more pastel there but you can tweak it like I did in exposure and color under basics. @pennyp Thank you Penny! @la_photographic Thank you Laura! And thank you so much for the fav and taking time to read my piece. @gerry Thank you Gerry! @fullcircle Thank you Cindy! Those words are actually from the carol. I have no way to distinguishing when I'm inserting the song here other than by using quotation marks. In the Advent Devotional those words are in italic s to set them apart from mine, but I haven't figured out if there's a way to do that here. As far as I know there isn't. Although they are lovely and I would be pleased to call them my own, I must give credit where credit is due. They are Phillips Brook's words.
Thank you all once again! I must apologize for not visiting your pictures tonight. I worked all day for Judy and then hauled in three loads of wood, so I'm dealing with some heavy-duty arthritis pain tonight. I will catch up with you all tomorrow!
@alia_801 Thanks Alia! I had also done one with a starry background but I've used that so often I challenged myself to find a different approach and really liked this one.
@vickisfotos thank you Vicki! And thank you so much for the fav! @prttblues thank you Bev! This worked out really well. The back ground was a white wall, so it looked very much like a black and white shot. All I did was apply a texture to the shot and bump up the colors a bit. A simple process but it really added life to the picture.
@espyetta Thank you Marybeth! Funny, I did one with stars too- but I felt I do that so often I should try something new and then landed on this.
@kerristephens Thank you Kerri!
@maggiemae Thank you Maggie!
@mzzhope Thank you Hope!
@twr Thank you Timothy!
@rhubbard Thank you Rich! Having been there, the silhouette has a mild resemblance to ancient architecture, but not Bethlehem's! However, our traditions have made this one what most people think of, so I enjoy it. This skyline is actually more like what you can see in Jerusalem- and that's not very far away from Bethlehem.
@salza Thank you Sally! And thank you for taking the time to read them. I do appreciate that more than I can say!
@summerfield Thank you Vikki! I take that as high praise from an accomplished writer like you!
@taffy Thank you Taffy! And thank you so much for the fav!!
@yaorenliu Thank you Yao!
@ruthmouch Thank you Ruth! I don't know if you've traveled in to Israel at all, but this actually makes me smile. I was in Bethlehem in 2005 and didn't really see much architecture like this. It reminds me more of Jerusalem. But I still love the Advent wreath and the thought behind why it was given to me.
@sangwann Thank you Dione! I really appreciate you taking the time to read it!
@digitalrn Thank you Rick! My! You said that soo tactfully!
@cimes1 Thank you Carole! And thank you for reading my piece. This texture can be found in Texture under the heading "lights". It will appear a bit more pastel there but you can tweak it like I did in exposure and color under basics.
@pennyp Thank you Penny!
@la_photographic Thank you Laura! And thank you so much for the fav and taking time to read my piece.
@gerry Thank you Gerry!
@fullcircle Thank you Cindy! Those words are actually from the carol. I have no way to distinguishing when I'm inserting the song here other than by using quotation marks. In the Advent Devotional those words are in italic s to set them apart from mine, but I haven't figured out if there's a way to do that here. As far as I know there isn't. Although they are lovely and I would be pleased to call them my own, I must give credit where credit is due. They are Phillips Brook's words.
Thank you all once again! I must apologize for not visiting your pictures tonight. I worked all day for Judy and then hauled in three loads of wood, so I'm dealing with some heavy-duty arthritis pain tonight. I will catch up with you all tomorrow!
@prttblues thank you Bev! This worked out really well. The back ground was a white wall, so it looked very much like a black and white shot. All I did was apply a texture to the shot and bump up the colors a bit. A simple process but it really added life to the picture.