Hi friends,
Well here we are at the last issue of the year. You’ll notice we don’t normally send out newsletters on a Wednesday, but with Christmas landing on Friday this year we thought we’d get it out early and enjoy some time off until the new year.
This is the final issue in our series on PEACE. I pitched the series to Chris as the result of feeling such a lack of it in my own life. Life felt frantic and noisy, and I, addicted to the cacophony. “We absolutely need to write about peace this month,” I decreed, shakily nursing my tenth cup of coffee.
Since that afternoon four weeks ago, my hunger for peace has only mounted. This series was written way more for us than it was with you in mind, but I’m glad we stuck with it. If I could offer you one gift this season, it would be that of peace. Peace with yourself, your family, your circumstances and with God.
But the reality is that that gift as already been offered. It’s there waiting for us, in the quiet and the chaos of life. Supernatural peace can only come from a supernatural source, and so I hope these last few issues have acted as roadsigns toward the One who gives it to us freely.
With all of this in mind, we pray this benediction over the end of your year:
May your sleep be restful
May your food nourish
May your laughter birth hope in the darkest night
May your grief find a home
May your light shine brighter
May your dreams take courage
and may your hearts find rest in the most unlikely of places.
We love you guys!
Chris + Gabby
By Chris Llewellyn
“No I promise - this time I. AM. IN. I’m here for the long haul. Choral music? My life’s passion!”
The many-times-burned choir master at Regent House Grammar school looked me up and down suspiciously over the top of his scholarly glasses and accepted me once again as a baritone in his Christmas production of Handel’s Messiah.
He was right to be dubious. This was the third consecutive year we had gone through this song and dance: Chris joins choir for exactly 2 weeks in order to get out of class for rehearsals. Chris abandons choir immediately and shamelessly as soon as the last “hallelujah” has been sung. And, to be fair, the promises I was making so passionately now were as empty as my seat in the choir would be in 2 weeks time -I did the exact same dishonourable, yet predictable thing, for the third year running.
But it wasn’t that I didn’t love the music. Even before I had a faith of my own, I couldn’t help but be moved by Handel’s powerful, intricate masterpiece. Our voices came together like fingers wrapping into a fist, and the truths of scripture in the lyrics hit home with the force of a knockout punch.
“And His name shall be called,
Wonderful,
Counsellor,
Almighty God,
The Everlasting Father
And Prince of Peace “
The musical and spiritual potency of these lines have been indelibly printed on my brain and heart, since before I even had a “box” for understanding worship.
Different elements of this verse have popped out to me over the years depending on my life circumstances.
Sometimes when I’ve been spiralling out of control, I have been struck by God’s awesome power and authority as “Almighty God”.
Sometimes I have found intimacy and security in His identity as “Everlasting Father” - the dad who is eternally good and present.
Sometimes it’s the solace, in a world raging with warfare, rioting and brutality, of having a “Prince of Peace”.
But this year it’s a completely different facet of God’s character that captures my attention, one that I have previously always overlooked :
He is a “Wonderful Counsellor”.
He is MY Wonderful Counsellor.
In a year which introduced me to mental health struggles and visits to an actual human counsellor, Chad, I have a brand new relationship with this term.
Chad taught me how to give myself a little grace and space to breathe, letting go of ruthless perfectionism and the pursuit of success.
Chad taught me how to extend more kindness to others, to be less judgemental and combative in conversation.
Chad taught me about myself, in a way that gives me a roadmap to be a better and more balanced self, a better canvas on which to display fruits of the spirit.
I can’t help but wonder, if I can get so much benefit from my conversations with Chad, what kind of breakthroughs are possible with not just an excellent therapist, but the divine Wonderful Counsellor?
Isn’t that hopeful? That human methods have already carried me so far, and yet the True Therapist has only begun to do His work in me?
In fact, He is nowhere near finished with me - and that fills me with a buoyant optimism about what 2021 can be.
Maybe you could use some divine therapy. (Who could blame you? - you’ve had a wild ride since March).
One of seldom highlighted miracles of the Christmas story is that you have an empathetic and wise Therapist waiting to listen to your every concern, without condemnation, but with grace and compassion.
You have an Advisor who will gently challenge you, correct you and guide your every step.
You have a Wonderful Counsellor.
It’s a hodgepodge this week because we’re already high on our own supply of chocolate, crisps and other Christmas goodies that we have been stock piling “for Christmas day.” Ahh the magic of Christmas.
- This commercial for a pharmaceutical company in Germany that we’ve never heard of, made both of us cry the best kind of cosy, Christmas tears and is a much watch.
- Need something mellow and festive to watch in the evening? We LOVED making a wee cuppa and settling in to watch Foy Vance’s Christmas special called Hope in the Highlands. After watching it Chris turned to me and said “This has restored my faith in the power of simple music.”
- If you’re looking to break up your Instagram feed a bit from the relentless stream of consumerism (which, as participants, we are not so much condemning as we are looking for variety!), then might we suggest following the account @poetryisnotaluxury? It’s a beautiful curation of profound and thought provoking poems that we think you’d enjoy.
A Difficult, Beautiful Christmas in the Arctic Circle by Rachel Louise Snyder (The New Yorker) — A Christmassy, gently humoured piece on a family’s trip up north to see the northern lights and visit Santa. If you’re looking for something short and heartwarming to read over the holiday weekend, this is a good choice.
So last week I recommended a book I hadn’t read yet. This week I read it and wholeheartedly recommend EVEN more. It’s called Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat by Katherine May, and it’s one of those books you find yourself stealing away to try and read throughout the day. It’s not a Christian book, but May touches on the spiritual and physical nature of winters in our lives and how we survive them. I for one, love a good story, and this was one I to which I deeply related.
If you came to our last virtual Book Club meeting… then you know how good it was. We meant to share some discussion highlights in our meeting recap the other day but got so excited we completely forgot.
We discussed the effects of “theological whiplash,” the sense that you’re being tossed between ideological concepts in the Bible and in church culture, and “the delicate dance” of struggling to find your footing between the two.
Someone else brought up how a posture of humility when reading the Bible will take us far, because, as they pointed out, there are 30,000 known denominations within the Christian religion alone— and they all interpret the Bible slightly differently!
We shared struggles, stories and a lot of laughs. We’re always amazed at kind you all are to one another, and how grace you extend us, and everyone else for the journey. Never change!
Want to get a feel for what these times are like? Here’s the video recording of our last meeting for your viewing pleasure. You WILL notice that the video abruptly cuts off, and that’s because we stopped recording just before our group discussion (which is the best part!) to respect the privacy of everyone who showed up and give them a safe space to share their honest thoughts.
And with that, we’re officially headed into the end of the year like…
If Spotify wrapped my mom's music in the 1990s at Christmas time, Handel's Messiah would have been the album that "got us through"😂 Thanks for this series, Llewellyns! Loving the reminder to walk with Jesus, in his perfect peace, into 2021
What a beautiful way to wrap up my shortened chaotic work week. I appreciate the two of you so much! Thanks for sharing your hearts with our little community. ❤️