The 12th day of Advent ~ psalm 126...

A soft snow fell last night ~ about 3 inches ~ and, indeed, the Berkshires look dreamlike on account of that frosting as one local bard (JT) put it. What a lovely case of serendipity, then, to discover that the open lines of Psalm 126 speak people rejoicing like "dreamers."

When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,^*
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
‘The Lord has done great things for them.’
The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.

Patrick Henry Reardon writes in his Christ in the Psalms: "This expression, from the traditional Hebrew rabbinical text, reads keholmim, 'like dreamers.' That is to say, the experience of salvation has a kind of dreamlike quality. Those who are saved must pinch themselves, as it were, to make sure it is really happening. God's redemption of us from bondage and oppression is so marvelously incomprehensible; it is too good to be true ~ and the sheer joy of the thing encourages unbelief." (p. 251)

The 11ths century rabbi, Rashi, notes that the experience of this joy felt like water pouring across a parched desert: Like rivulets in arid land, which moisten it, so shall we be moistened [freshened] when You return [us from] our captivity, for those who sow in an arid land, with tears, worrying that it will not grow, reap with song through the rivulets of water, when they are directed into it [that land]. What a sensual image, yes?

This was the "second Exodus" ~ the return of those who had been in exile in Babylon ~ the long prayed for return to the city of their hopes and dreams: Jerusalem. It was a time of renewal and celebration. There was exultation, gratitude and a deep reverence. There was also, notes Donald Collins, a sense that the celebration demanded the work of God's compassion and justice, too. If there is to be a harvest of joy born from out of the sorrow and tears of those wounded, then right relations between people and creation must rise up from the exile ~ and that rings true as much in 2011 as it did in the 6th century BCE.

In two hours, we leave to play our monthly jazz gig at Patrick's Pub.  For many of us, it will be a wild and sensual time of music-making and celebration.  These are GREAT people and HOT musicians ~ and the people who come out to join in the celebrations have always been sweet and supportive to us. Tonight will be a time for fun ~ tomorrow there is still work to be done.