A Time of Magic
Once upon a time,
when
the world was younger than it now is,
long
before people began
to take things apart
in
order to learn how they work
the whole world
was full of magic.
In those days
when
the world was younger
and
so were we
magic was not some special birthday
thing
like pulling a rabbit out of a hat
or
a string of silk scarves from your ear
or even making
someone disappear.
In those days
when everything
was young,
magic was just the way the world worked;
magic was the
art of looking at the world
and seeing something special
every single day
in
everything that happened.
When
the world was young
and so were we
every season was a magic
time:
when the dead limbs of trees
suddenly burst
forth in soft, green leaves
and flowers pushed through
the barren earth,
that was magic;
and when the
flowers faded and fell away
revealing fruits and vegetables
growing in the
sun
and when grain ripened in the fields,
that was magic;
and
when children were born
and
lambs and kittens
that was magic;
and
when the leaves turned
and fell to the earth like glowing ashes
and
all the world was touched with color
and with a sense of endings
and
of something forever gone
and of something never to come again,
that was
magic.
But when the world was young
and so
were we,
no season had greater magic
than
this season of the year.
All
the long autumn people watched
as the
days grew short
and the nights grew long
and
shadows spread across the world
and chill winds blew
across the land
and the birds fled south.
All
the long autumn people watched;
all the long autumn
people waited.
They lighted fires to warm them
and
to nourish their
hopes;
they decorated their homes with evergreen,
twisted
green branches into wreaths
to strengthen
the magic of life;
they gathered close their families and
friends
to nourish their hopes and to strengthen the magic
in them.
And they watched and waited.
And
then, one morning it happened:
the sun, which had retreated
slowly down the sky,
growing
weaker and weaker
day by autumn day,
the sun stood still
and the
next day it had moved a little toward the north
and the next day, a little more
toward the north
and then they knew that the magic had happened.
The
sun was returning.
Though there would be months of cold and darkness,
the
magic had not died.
The sun was coming back
and the earth would warm
and
new leaves and flowers would appear
and new crops would grow
and new
babies would come
and the earth
would live again.
The magic,
the everyday magic
was still alive!
And
they sang and rejoiced
and lived in the magic
that was the way
of life
when the world was young
and so were we.
* HYMN: "Lady of
the Seasons Laughter"...51
In our world,
it
often seems,
there is no real magic anymore.
When
we learned to take things apart
to
see how they work
some
invisible thing got lost and forgotten,
and we
could never put things back the way they were.
We know that the seasons
are not magic;
they come and go because of the way the earth is slanted
on
its annual journey around the sun.
We know that the winter trees are
not really dead
and that the leaves and flowers always appear in the spring
because
that is the way flowers and trees are;
we know how lambs and kittens
and babies are born.
We
know why the leaves change color and fall from the trees
and why the days grow
shorter and the nights longer.
Why, we can even calculate the exact moment,
the
precise second
when winter begins and ends.
It is not magic;
it
is just the way things are,
now that the world is older
and so are we.
But
at this season of the year,
this very
special season of the year,
a little of the magic seems to
return.
At
this season of the year,
the old world seems a little younger,
and
so do we
and we almost hear a
voice whispering in our inner ear
a voice saying
"Abracadabra,
Hocus Pocus,
The magic lives
Things are not always
As
they seem,
Hocus Pocus,
Abracadabra"
And something
inside us changes ever so slightly
and we begin to see the
world in a new way,
and
we begin to do things we don't do at other seasons.
We
bring fresh green branches into our homes and churches;
We
hang green wreaths on our doors;
we begin to remember
people
we don't think of at other times.
We
think of family and friends who are distant.
We gather
friends and neighbors
for parties and celebrations.
We
send greetings
to people we once knew,
and we feel a growing willingness
to help
those who may need our help.
*
Hymn: "Deck the Halls"...235
We light candles
and lights in the darkness.
And the greens and the memories and the greetings
strengthen
the magic growing quietly,
deep inside us.
This morning,
I would like to light a candle
for people we do not know,
who live half
a world away,
and struggle
every day to keep some magic alive
in a world grown grim and ordinary.
Taking
the flame from the chalice
which represents our church community,
we
light a candle to honor
our partner church in Transylvania,
an ancient
land where people first were given the name, Unitarians,
an ancient land where
Unitarians have struggled
for over four hundred years
to keep alive the
magic
of freedom and reason and tolerance.
In this season,
as we feel
the magic stirring in us,
we encourage it by telling stories
of miraculous things
that happened at this time of the
year,
stories about how the animals all can talk
on
Christmas Eve,
stories about lamps that never
run out of oil,
stories about how reindeer can fly
on
Christmas Eve,
stories about all kinds of
impossible things.
One
such story is the tale called "The Cobweb Christmas."
STORY:
THE COBWEB CHRISTMAS
Tante
knew that magic sometimes happens
but it happens
even more often if we help it along.
This morning, to
help the magic grow in us,
we are going to make a small miracle
of our own.
Some of you, this morning, have brought
hats
and scarves
and gloves to decorate this tree.
Bring them forward
now
and see if we can make some magic.
DECORATE
THE TREE
Now there are two kinds of magic here.
Together, we have
decorated a tree.
Anything people do together
to make the world brighter
is
a kind of magic.
But even more,
when these hats and scarves and
mittens have been taken down,
they will find their way to children who need
them,
who will be warmed by
them in the cold of winter
and that, too, is a kind of magic--
that in this
world we have the power to make life better
for people we do not even know.
To
help the magic grow strong, lets light a candle.
From
this chalice,
the symbol of our church community,
we
will light a candle for all those people in the world
who
are homeless, or in need
whose lives
might be brightened
by
gifts we can give.
And there, we have told you
the real secret of magic;
magic happens because we make it happen,
because
we believe that something we do,
however small,
will make the world brighter
for someone else,
and then do it.
Here is a story about that kind
of magic,
the true magic of the season:
It is entitled,
WHAT THE THREE
KINGS BROUGHT
STORY: WHAT THE THREE KINGS BROUGHT
Isn't that
a marvelous tale of magic;
people
giving what they have so that someone else,
someone they do not know
will
find life brighter and richer and fuller.
That is the kind of magic
the
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
tries to work all year long.
All
around the earth they find people in need,
who are hungry, or sick,
or in distress,
and tell their story to other people
who give what they
can to help.
This season, we have a chance to help
make that magic.
Since
Thanksgiving,
these Little Boxes have been sitting
on tables
in various homes, gathering up money
at
meal times or other times.
Today we bring them
here
so that the small gifts we give
may
make magic in the lives of people we do not know
but
who are part of our human family.
BRING FORWARD
THE GUEST AT YOUR TABLE BOXES
And
now, to make the magic strong,
we
take the flame from this chalice,
the symbol of
our church community,
and light a candle
for
the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
and all
those unknown to us who will be touched
by the magic we have
helped to make.
When the world was younger than it now is
and
we were younger, too,
everything
was magic
because everything was part of everything else
and everything
was miraculous.
Now that the world is older,
and we are too,
the
magic that is left inthe world
is the magic of love,
love for ourselves,
love
for our families,
love for the entire human community,
love for
the world which is our home.
In this season,
let us light candles,
and
sing songs
and tell old tales
and make room for the magic to grow
in
us and in our world.
*
HYMN: WE BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS...248