I’ve been grateful for the opportunity to curate an Advent Hymn Study with two congregations over the past weeks - Valley Presbyterian Church in California and North Decatur Presbyterian Church in Georgia. Each Saturday we have gathered via Zoom for meaningful reflection on hymns and songs for the season. And it has been a life-giving challenge to create digital presentations that invite us to notice new details and beauty, especially since we can't be singing in the same room together.

This week I got to collaborate with jazz musicians Ike Sturm and Tabreeca Shynell Woodside to record my arrangement of "People, Look East" for the series. Arrangement feels too strong a word because these two incredible artists and improvisers added more than I could have imagined.

I also got to play with some video and paired the setting with footage of a sunrise by Jenny Warner, the Pastor of Valley Presbyterian.

I hope there's some beauty and joy in this setting for you as we approach the Third Sunday of Advent tomorrow. Even in these short days and long nights, may we find hope and promise in the rising sun, a steady reminder of the Love and Life that sustain this universe.