Music and Meditation for the Second Sunday of Advent

Sunday, December 8, 2019 | The Second Sunday of Advent

"Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus"

Words by Charles Wesley (1744) with new chorus by Laura Story

Music is the hymn tune HYFRODOL by Rowland Prichard

Laura Story sings on her album God With Us (Fair Trade Services, 2015)

Come, thou long-expected Jesus

Born to set thy people free

From our fears and sins release us

Let us find our rest in thee

Israel's strength and consolation

Hope of all the earth thou art

Dear desire of every nation

Joy of every longing heart

Born thy people to deliver

Born a child and yet a king

Born to reign in us forever

Now thy gracious kingdom bring

By thine own eternal spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone

By thine all sufficient merit

Raise us to thy glorious throne

Come now great Redeemer

Come Emmanuel

Bless the nations with your presence here

Born our souls to rescue

Born to save your very own

Long expected Jesus

Make our hearts your home

Readings

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ -- by grace you have been saved -- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:4-7 (ESV)

Almighty God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Give us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

The Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent

Music and Meditation for the First Sunday of Advent

Sunday, December 1, 2019 | The First Sunday of Advent

"O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
Words are a twelfth century Latin hymn translated to English by John M. Neale, 1851
Music is based on plainsong, with harmonization by Thomas Helmore, 1854

Anna Hawkins sings select verses in English and Hebrew from her album Divine (Southbound, 2015). Texts and translations in the video description at YouTube.com.

Readings

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given;
And the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and uphold it
With justice and righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Isaiah 9:2,6-7 (ESV)

Almighty God, give us grace to cast away the works of darkness, and put on the armor of light, now and in the time of this mortal life in which your son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever, Amen.

The Collect for the First Sunday of Advent

2019 MLB Postseason Predictions

My predictions are again this year based loosely on the competing teams' head-to-head records and factoring home field advantage. I still do not have a future as a sports journalist. And am very sad that my Chicago Cubs are not in the bracket at the start of October for the first time since 2014. But just for fun:

American League Wild Card: Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Athletics
Prediction: Oakland Athletics

National League Wild Card: Milwaukee Brewers at Washington Nationals
Prediction: Washington Nationals

American League Division Series: Minnesota Twins at New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros
Predictions: New York Yankees in 5, Houston Astros in 3

National League Division Series: Washington Nationals at Los Angeles Dodgers, St Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves
Predictions: Los Angeles Dodgers in 5, Atlanta Braves in 5

American League Championship Series: New York Yankees at Houston Astros
Prediction: Houston Astros in 4

National League Championship Series: Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers
Prediction: Los Angeles Dodgers in 4

World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers at Houston Astros

Prediction: Houston Astros in 7

Review: Brightline, Miami to Fort Lauderdale (Return)

Earlier this week I needed to be in Fort Lauderdale to attend a workshop for my job. The start time was 9am, meaning I would need to fight rush hour traffic to get there. I thought about taking an Uber so at least I would not be the one doing the driving, but sampling fares at a similar time a few days before showed it was going to be quite expensive.

Then I realized that the workshop was just a half mile from Fort Lauderdale's Brightline station, and with the Miami station being just a 20-minute walk from my apartment, I decided to look at Brightline's prices.

I found a promo code, and within no time had booked a round-trip ticket for just $20.25 (in full disclosure, my employer will be reimbursing this expense, but even so it was less than reimbursing my mileage at the current IRS rate). The purchase process was simple, as was the post-purchase account creation and syncing my ticket to my account.

Most unfortunately, there were some issues the morning of my day to be in Fort Lauderdale. Brightline's reservation system was malfunctioning, meaning I could not retrieve my ticket via the app, the website, or the in-station self-service kiosk. It was only when I approached the agent at the turnstiles that I learned it was system-wide and not just me. She found my name on a passenger manifest and I was admitted to the passenger-only area. Security screening consisted of putting my backpack through a conveyor belt scanner and then I was free to relax in the departure lounge.

I had plenty of time to explore the lounge as my train was delayed some twenty minutes. In Miami, the turnstiles and lounge are on the second floor of Miami Central. Within the passenger area is a cafe, with pastries, packages snacks, and assorted hot and cold beverages, as well as gift items, available for purchase. There is assorted seating, with plentiful power and USB outlets, overlooking the street below. To the rear of the passenger area is the Select Lounge, for passengers on the first class fare, where they have complimentary beverages and snacks along with similar seating. Wi-Fi was free and useful throughout.

Boarding was announced, late as expected, and passengers rode escalators (elevators also available) up one level to the platform. I found my coach and my seat, which I realized was an accessible seat, and found it odd that I had been assigned to such a seat by the reservation system.

When the train began rolling a few minutes later, realizing the coach was not even half full, I moved to another seat. Seats were in a 2-2 configuration, with some facing another pair across a table, and others with a tray table available in the seat back ahead. I found a window seat of the latter kind and still had an empty seat next to me. Power and USB outlets were available for each seat.

A few minutes after departure, an attendant came down the aisle with a beverage cart. I declined as I had brought my own snack, and opened my laptop on the tray table and did some work during the 30-minute ride to Fort Lauderdale.

Arrival was announced a few minutes beforehand, giving me ample time to unplug and store my laptop and walk to the vestibule to be ready to disembark. I had a moment of trouble navigating my way to the exit (despite Fort Lauderdale being a smaller station than Miami Central), but a station agent kindly pointed me the right direction.

After the workshop, I had an hour before my return train (unfortunately I had missed my chance to change to an earlier train by just minutes), so after clearing security, I found a high-top counter and chair in the lounge and caught up on emails and phone messages. I checked the train status a couple times as well as the seat map. Noticing I had again been assigned an accessible seat, I reseated myself to a mid-car window seat.

Boarding was similarly announced and I once again found myself in a half-empty cabin. I mostly enjoyed the view on the return journey, including a nice view of the ramp at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport's Terminal 1.

All in all, a comfortable and convenient way to get between Miami and Fort Lauderdale (and there is one additional stop further north in West Palm Beach, with plans to extend to Orlando).