Christmas Eve, 2014
24/12/14 05:16
The name Eve means life. In Hebrew it is not only the name of the woman in the second Genesis story of Creation. In its verb form it means “to breathe.” In that story, Adam (whose name means “earth”) received the Eve (breath of life) from God. So Adam is literally earth endowed with the breath of life. There is a similar language play in English if we think of “human” and “humus” (dark, organic soil). Then, in that same story of creation, God causes Adam to sleep (literally knocks the breath out of him) and removes one side of him (the term has often been translated “rib”) and forms Eve.
I know a little bit about the word because it is the middle name of our daughter. Spelling is a bit of a challenge when translating a name from one language to another. We had bit of a conversation about the spelling of her first name, Rachel, which is also from the Hebrew. There are quite a few different spellings of Rachel in English. We decided that the most common spelling was best. So we went with the most common spelling of her middle name in English as well: “Eve.” That was a bit of a departure from the tradition, on my side of the family, of using the Latin spelling “Eva.” That is the name used in the Latin bible and the same spelling is fairly common in northern Europe. In our family, the name has also been pronounced “eva” instead of the more common “eev.” But we chose the common spelling and pronunciation for our daughter’s name, bending the tradition slightly. I know it is the same name with the same meaning even though it is slightly different from that of my maternal grandmother.
So, in our family, we make a connection between life and the time of day when the sunset occurs. The word evening does not come from Hebrew. It is, rather, from the Old English and means “the time around sunset.” Sometime in the mid-15th Century the word arose as a replacement from the older “cwildtid.”
The term “eve” in common English has been shortened from “evening” and has come to mean “the night before” as in Christmas Eve or New Years Eve.
Which brings us to another tradition and story from my family. I grew up with a brother who was born on December 24. In my family, it was important to give each child a special day of celebration on their birthday, so we did not mix Christmas traditions with the celebration of my brother’s birthday. In our home, the day of December 24 was given to the birthday celebration. We didn’t celebrate Christmas until the next day. But in a family with seven children, hyped by the anticipation of Christmas and the extra sugar of a birthday celebration, a bit of foreshadowing was allowed. So, after dinner and after dark on Christmas Eve, we would gather around the piano. My father would read the Christmas Story from Luke’s Gospel. Later, as we learned to read, we kids would sometimes read part of the story and we added the bit about the wise men from Matthew. Then we’d all sit in the living room and mother would hand out one gift from the pile under the tree for us to open. After that, we’d have a bit of time to play with our gift and it was time to hang the stockings and off to bed. I have no conscious memory of visions of sugarplums dancing, however.
As a result of the combination of these bits from my life, I have made a deep association between the two meanings of the word “Eve.” For me Eve means life. And for me eve means anticipation. And that combination of meanings is very powerful for me.
Our life is anticipation.
To be fully alive is to live in expectation.
When I was a child, I guess that I expected I would one day be married, but I didn’t really know what that would mean. When we were newly-wed, I expected that we would one day have children, but I didn’t know what that would be like. When we had young children at home, I expected that one day we would become grandparents, but I didn’t really know what that would mean. Each stage of my life has unfolded with much more than I anticipated. It is as if each calling I have received has been to an assignment that is better than the last one. My life has been a layering of meaning upon meaning.
Of course not every moment of my life has been sweetness. It has been painful to grieve the death of parents and siblings. I’ve had down days and gloomy times. Still, now that I’m old enough for an AARP card and my hair has turned white, I know there is much to anticipate. After all, at my next birthday, I become old enough for a “Golden Age Passport” good for discounted admission to National Parks and Federal recreational lands.
In a large sense, however, to be alive is to live in anticipation and expectation. It is one of the lessons of the season of Advent. There is something particularly delicious about expectations. When I think back on the Christmases of my childhood, there are few presents that stand out. I don’t know what I received on my 5th or 8th Christmas or many of the other ones. But I really remember the anticipation of Christmas - the excitement of the build-up - the hope of joy yet to come. And that anticipation is delicious and wonderful.
Today, Christmas Eve, 2014, is filled with a similar sense of anticipation for me. At 7 this evening, after dark, our congregation will gather for our big Christmas Eve service. There will be costumes and actors and anthems and bells and organ and candles. We’ll read the familiar story and sing the familiar carols. But my favorite service of the year comes after that one. At 11:30, on the very cusp of the change from one day to the next, we will gather for a more quiet service - a time of a return to the story and a bit of jazz and a simple celebration of Holy communion.
I get to live the whole day - up until the last half hour - in anticipation.
And there is yet more to come!
On the seventh day of Christmas (Dec. 31) our whole family will be together in the home of our daughter for our family celebrations. Kids and grandkids and the great joy of being together.
And, I’ve come to understand that even when that grand celebration is over, God has much more good yet to come.
Life (Eve) is anticipation (Eve).
I know a little bit about the word because it is the middle name of our daughter. Spelling is a bit of a challenge when translating a name from one language to another. We had bit of a conversation about the spelling of her first name, Rachel, which is also from the Hebrew. There are quite a few different spellings of Rachel in English. We decided that the most common spelling was best. So we went with the most common spelling of her middle name in English as well: “Eve.” That was a bit of a departure from the tradition, on my side of the family, of using the Latin spelling “Eva.” That is the name used in the Latin bible and the same spelling is fairly common in northern Europe. In our family, the name has also been pronounced “eva” instead of the more common “eev.” But we chose the common spelling and pronunciation for our daughter’s name, bending the tradition slightly. I know it is the same name with the same meaning even though it is slightly different from that of my maternal grandmother.
So, in our family, we make a connection between life and the time of day when the sunset occurs. The word evening does not come from Hebrew. It is, rather, from the Old English and means “the time around sunset.” Sometime in the mid-15th Century the word arose as a replacement from the older “cwildtid.”
The term “eve” in common English has been shortened from “evening” and has come to mean “the night before” as in Christmas Eve or New Years Eve.
Which brings us to another tradition and story from my family. I grew up with a brother who was born on December 24. In my family, it was important to give each child a special day of celebration on their birthday, so we did not mix Christmas traditions with the celebration of my brother’s birthday. In our home, the day of December 24 was given to the birthday celebration. We didn’t celebrate Christmas until the next day. But in a family with seven children, hyped by the anticipation of Christmas and the extra sugar of a birthday celebration, a bit of foreshadowing was allowed. So, after dinner and after dark on Christmas Eve, we would gather around the piano. My father would read the Christmas Story from Luke’s Gospel. Later, as we learned to read, we kids would sometimes read part of the story and we added the bit about the wise men from Matthew. Then we’d all sit in the living room and mother would hand out one gift from the pile under the tree for us to open. After that, we’d have a bit of time to play with our gift and it was time to hang the stockings and off to bed. I have no conscious memory of visions of sugarplums dancing, however.
As a result of the combination of these bits from my life, I have made a deep association between the two meanings of the word “Eve.” For me Eve means life. And for me eve means anticipation. And that combination of meanings is very powerful for me.
Our life is anticipation.
To be fully alive is to live in expectation.
When I was a child, I guess that I expected I would one day be married, but I didn’t really know what that would mean. When we were newly-wed, I expected that we would one day have children, but I didn’t know what that would be like. When we had young children at home, I expected that one day we would become grandparents, but I didn’t really know what that would mean. Each stage of my life has unfolded with much more than I anticipated. It is as if each calling I have received has been to an assignment that is better than the last one. My life has been a layering of meaning upon meaning.
Of course not every moment of my life has been sweetness. It has been painful to grieve the death of parents and siblings. I’ve had down days and gloomy times. Still, now that I’m old enough for an AARP card and my hair has turned white, I know there is much to anticipate. After all, at my next birthday, I become old enough for a “Golden Age Passport” good for discounted admission to National Parks and Federal recreational lands.
In a large sense, however, to be alive is to live in anticipation and expectation. It is one of the lessons of the season of Advent. There is something particularly delicious about expectations. When I think back on the Christmases of my childhood, there are few presents that stand out. I don’t know what I received on my 5th or 8th Christmas or many of the other ones. But I really remember the anticipation of Christmas - the excitement of the build-up - the hope of joy yet to come. And that anticipation is delicious and wonderful.
Today, Christmas Eve, 2014, is filled with a similar sense of anticipation for me. At 7 this evening, after dark, our congregation will gather for our big Christmas Eve service. There will be costumes and actors and anthems and bells and organ and candles. We’ll read the familiar story and sing the familiar carols. But my favorite service of the year comes after that one. At 11:30, on the very cusp of the change from one day to the next, we will gather for a more quiet service - a time of a return to the story and a bit of jazz and a simple celebration of Holy communion.
I get to live the whole day - up until the last half hour - in anticipation.
And there is yet more to come!
On the seventh day of Christmas (Dec. 31) our whole family will be together in the home of our daughter for our family celebrations. Kids and grandkids and the great joy of being together.
And, I’ve come to understand that even when that grand celebration is over, God has much more good yet to come.
Life (Eve) is anticipation (Eve).