The Fifth Day of Christmas (the first day of the season without another feast on top of it!)
In the beginning . . .
In Genesis, we hear the story of creation, which was accomplished by no other means than "God said." It's the vibration and shaping of breath, remembering that in the main biblical languages, both Hebrew and Greek, use words for breath that can just as well mean spirit.
In the Gospel According to John, we hear how the Word was in the beginning, being with God and being God. It's poetic language and I find it evocative. Jesus is the Word spoken and through him, all things were created.
I think of what actors and singers and other vocal artists do as shaping their spirit, sharing their spirit with us by shaping it and projecting it into the world. Performers train their voice, shape their breath into their expression, their art. As a sometimes performer, I've always been loud, able to project to the back row in most theater settings. In my younger days, I considered it something to get me noticed. "Look at me! Look at me!" As I've aged and thought differently about any gift that I have, I've tried to look at my vocal projection as a gift to the audience. Less of a gift bestowed upon me, more a gift for whatever I'm up to in the moment, whether entertainment or enlightenment.
In this season of Incarnation, I give thanks for my own flesh, a part of the creation spoken into being "in the beginning."
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