Thankfulness No Matter The Season
Josh Rodriguez
by Emily Hiemstra
This Christmas season marks our second advent in a post-COVID world. For many Canadian musicians, the road back to normalcy has been much slower than our American counterparts; we persevered through a second lockdown and our concert halls currently are only just being filled with live patrons at heavy capacity limits instead of virtual ones.
It’s not just musicians and composers who have had to navigate the waters of the unexplored online world; nearly every job in every sector has been affected and changed, sometimes for the better and sometimes with new and unexpected hardships. I have friends whose years of hard work and investment into their small business has crumbled in a few short months because of COVID. To say this has been a difficult season is an understatement for many.
So what are we to do this Christmas advent at the end of the strange year that has been 2021? How do we deal with the disappointments, frustrations and bitterness this past year has presented us?
Firstly, we must look at the example set for us in our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
“He was despised and rejected,” Isaiah 53:3 begins, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (ESV)
These great words, so often echoed this Christmas season in Handel’s Messiah, are a comforting reminder to us our Lord has also walked through dark valleys, culminating in his painful and powerful work on the cross. We can take great comfort in our solidarity with Christ; “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with us with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect was been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)
My second hope this season is that we can be reminded that no matter the circumstance, we can be confident that God is with us. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquers through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35 & 37 We may not always know the reason for our current circumstance, but we can rest in the knowledge that God is sovereign over all things, and his love towards us does not change depending on our situation. The most potent example of this comes in the nativity; Mary & Joseph travelling long roads away from her family, a travellers worst nightmare of no hotel rooms available, giving birth in a stable surrounded by animals. Yet this was the humble scenario God chose to bring the Saviour of all mankind into the world.
I had the privilege of setting Psalm 57 for voice and piano for a concert this fall. The psalm is one of David’s most heart wrenching; written in a cave while he was in hiding from King Saul who was trying to kill him. The psalm is full of lament and heartache, but the wondrous part of the psalm is in the midst of his suffering David turns his eyes heavenward and offers a song of praise, knowing God is still sovereign in the midst of suffering and hardship. It is the joy of the composer to attempt to translate these emotions into music.
My prayer is that this season, whether is has been a time of joy or sorrow, that you may be able to rest in Christ, confidant in his love and trusting that this situation is not too hard or complicated for him.
Emily Hiemstra, violist & composer
To hear Emily’s music, please visit emilyhiemstra.com & Spotify & get to know her story here.