Amongst many musical mountaintops over the last several weeks, none lingers so warmly for me as the annual “Look for the Light” program at Holy Communion, which took place this past Sunday. What generates the headlines and the most visceral sort of excitement is the fact that real live farm animals are brought into our beautiful sanctuary – a rather extraordinary sight, to say the least – and it’s certainly a big part of why the kids (and for that matter, the adults) get so excited about the program, year after year. (This year we had a donkey, a cow, a llama, a sheep and a goat – all of whom behaved impeccably!) But it’s not really about the animals, or director Kate Barrow would have titled it “The Friendly Beasts.” No, it’s called “Look for the Light” and I love how Kate’s script focuses on the well-worn theme of Light with such freshness and insight. And in these really challenging times when we seem surrounded by darkness, what could be more important than a powerful, dramatic reminder of the power and pervasiveness of Light?
The familiar story of the birth of Christ is told by young narrators, with both familiar hymns and original songs by yours truly interspersed throughout. By the time it’s all done, the singers have sung “Look for the Light,” “Jesus Light,” “Great and Glorious Light,” “I will give you as a light,” and “Jesus, the Light of the World” – plus some cool songs like Trisha Yearwood’s “Take a Walk to Bethlehem,” John Michael Talbot’s “Wonderful Counselor,” and their very favorite: “Shaggy Brown Donkey.” And in the climactic moments, the walls of our sanctuary are quivering with joyous noise more beautiful than any Bach B Minor Mass could ever be.
We have been doing this “Look for the Light” program for more than ten years now (and before that we did a similar sort of program but with completely different music) and for Kate it was an especially poignant experience because her daughter Anneka, now a high school senior, portrayed Mary and with her friend Sam Neubauer (as Joseph) did an absolutely beautiful job singing my song “Nothing is as it seems.” Anneka was just a youngster with the first “Look to the Light” – and she like all the other youth have grown up with this program, year after year. . . some of them since they were three. And chances are that as they have grown older, they have come to realize more and more just how dark this world can be or just how dark some of life’s roads can be. But there is still that Light beckoning through the darkness, giving us hope. Giving us joy. If you remember to look for it.
pictured above: The aforementioned Sam, Anneka, Kate, and Kathy Berg in the joyous climax of the program, “Jesus the Light of the World.” Various youth are gathered around, and you can also see at least one of the farm animals.