From Fabulous to Glorious

For the better part of the last week, we have been in the Washington D.C. area visiting our oldest son. It is great to be treated like an honored guest! He met us at the airport, whisked us back to his house and served us homemade soup and lasagna. After dinner he suggested we go out to see a mansion, decorated for Christmas and specially opened that night. Out we went on that cold rainy night to visit Hillwood, the estate of the heiress, Marjorie Merriweather Post. She is remembered for her passion of collecting expensive and rare art treasures. Her home was like a museum: Russian liturgical art and icons, 19th century porcelain and Faberge eggs stand out in my mind. The place advertises "Where Fabulous Lives" and I thought, it isn't only money but the good taste she had that makes this place "fabulous."

The reason for the trip was to hear the Christmas Concert of the Cathedral Choral Society, a large chorus in which our son has sung for more than ten years. I'd never been to one of their concerts. The program advertised "Glorious music in a Glorious Setting" and it was. As we approached the Washington National Cathedral, the late afternoon light gave an inner glow as the Carillon rang joyously. Inside the stained glass windows glowed and cast rainbows on opposite walls, it was a sight to see. Then a brass quintet began to play and the choral procession began. It was a "Glorious" experience. As we all stood and joined with the brass and the organ and the hundred plus chorus to sing "O Come, All Ye Faithful" I knew this was the grandest hearing of this favorite hymn I'd ever hear. My tears flowed both to see our son singing and for my incredible sadness for the plight of the oppressed people of Bethlehem today.

Fabulous and Glorious it all was and thrilling to behold. Yet when I think back 2000 years to that first Christmas when Jesus was born, it wasn't fabulous or glorious at least not in the sense I experienced in Washington. Jesus was born in an occupied land, to gravely oppressed peasants who had little hope their circumstances would ever change. "Fabulous and Glorious" were found in Rome, where the power and wealth were. In this Christmas season, when our economy's collapse has put new pressure on us all, I wonder if it isn't a real opportunity to recover a bit of what it means to celebrate the birth of Jesus?