Wow! I don’t think I’ve ever had as busy a Christmas as this year was. In addition to the usual press of the holiday season, the staff of St. James bid our Interim Rector, Fr. Tom Davis good-bye on Christmas Eve, and then we had to make preparations for the arrival of our new Rector, Fr. Geoff Taylor. But it wasn’t all work. Corrie and I celebrated her birthday by seeing the Met’s performance of Massenet’s Thais on December 20, and we ended the holiday season at the Peace Center last Thursday for a performance by violinist Joshua Bell. For his encore, Bell played the Meditation from Thais. So our Christmas began and ended with that lovely and profound violin piece.

Thais is the story of an Egyptian monk from the early centuries of Christianity who takes it upon himself to attempt the conversion of Thais, the most famous and beautiful courtesan in the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria. Of course he falls in love with her, and of course she converts to Christianity. In fact the Meditation is the moment in the opera when she converts. Thomas Hampson and Renee Fleming were superb in their roles, but David Chang, concertmaster of the Met Orchestra was amazing in his interpretation of the Meditation (I won’t even try to use words to describe Bell’s performance).

What I love most about the live HD Met broadcasts in movie theaters are the intermissions. The performers are often interviewed just as they come off stage and you get to watch amazing scene changes. Chang was charming in the interview. He connected his playing with his Christian faith, and humbly but forthrightly spoke of what the piece meant to him.

The gift of music was one of my greatest joys these past few weeks–the organ and choir of St. James, but also performances I was barely able to hear, before services for example. I was stopped cold more than once, in the midst of last-minute preparations, by the beautiful sounds of the violin playing of St. James’ parishioners. I hope to hear more of it in the new year!