Gaudete Sunday

No, I wasn't singing Steeleye Span, though I have sung their song Gaudete in the past and it kept sliding into my brain at unhelpful moments... but today was nonetheless Gaudete Sunday, and despite pleas and arguments online in Pisky church circles we lit the pink candle in our Advent Wreath to signal a day for rejoicing in the midst of the spiritual preparation for Christmas, we heard an excellent sermon which among other things presented the difference between "happiness" and "joy", and, in the afternoon, we held our Service of Lessons and Carols, led by our choir 8+1.

It was rather glorious, really - not the least the great upsurge of singing from the congregation in the communal carols, and the tense silence into which we sang everything from the Coventry Carol to the recent one I wrote in response to the world that we live in - though of course the world of the birth of Christ was one of forcible occupation, alien taxes, puppet goverments and random violence. 

Afterwards there were reunions with old friends, the realisation too that there were people there we'd never seen before, and general jollity over mulled fruit juice (you need a car to reach our church, so booze wasn't supplied!). The photo above comes from the point in the service when I realised I wanted a blip and sneaked this from behind my music stand. The red light comes from the overhead heaters - we had lights on our stands. What you can't see is the water running down the wall to my left - not rainwater, but caused by the stupidly mild temperatures bringing out the dampness. Ah well - at least we didn't have drips on our heads.

In an exhausted but wound-up state of mind, I watched Vigil without once dropping off to sleep - though I can't say the same for the end of the News. Now, of course, I'm wide awake again.