A Candlemas Update from the Clemmons, on Mission
A Presentation on the Feast of the Presentation
Dear friends & family,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today is Candlemas—a 1000x better holiday than a certain rodent-venerating varmint-divination which shares the calendar date. Candlemas is traditionally the day the Church celebrates the Presentation of infant Jesus in the Temple, when righteous Simeon greets with sweet relief the Spirit-revealed salvation of the Gentiles and glory of Israel. When devout Anna finally meets the Redemption of Jerusalem, for whom she has been fasting and praying without ceasing some six decades and more.
Having given birth to our Lord ~40 days previous, Mary brings baby Jesus along to offer her traditional sacrifice for purification (see Leviticus 12). Mary was poor, so in lieu of a lamb, she likely brought the acceptable substitute of two turtledoves or two pigeons, in which the 10th-century abbot Ælfric saw the symbolic offering of “a twofold burgeoning of awe and love.” Before God, we are likewise all poor. Yet God the Father does not despise our poverty, instead warmly accepting our feeble devotion and worship, even as He warmly welcomes us—through the presence of His Son—into His divine fellowship.
It’s called Candlemas, as far as I know, because early Christians would bring their candles to church to be blessed. Long ago, before the scourge of electric light could eviscerate the night, only candles and oil lamps could give refuge against the long, cold darkness of winter nights and all the threats that might lurk therein. On balance, I’m grateful for the reliability and ease of lamplight, but still: how beautiful (not just ‘aesthetic,’ but beautiful) it would be to have your haven lowlit and gently glowing with light leftover from the celebration that “on this day was the true Light, Christ, borne to the temple, who redeemed us from darkness and will bring us to that eternal light, who lives and rules for ever without end. Amen.” (If you’d like to read more of Ælfric’s lovely Candlemas homily, you can find it here.)
As my friend Sam pointed out to me this morning, we’re celebrating this year’s Candlemas with a special resonance. Erin and I hold our brand new child in the same crook of arm in which Mary bore her infant son. Our Lord was a helpless squirming child, not unlike our own blinking boy. And the light we sometimes catch in his dark-pupiled eyes is a fresh reflection of that ancient light which shone at creation and then arrived unconquerable in this dark world.
Here’s a slightly-sleep-deprived, slightly-shorter-than-usual update on our past month. Happy Candlemas.
Peace of Christ,
Zack
Virgil
Late on Tuesday night (it’s always at night), just before we got some last-minute sleep, the work began in earnest. Eleanor and Ames were already graciously hosted at their cousins’ house, so Erin & I were free to make the leisurely drive down I-459 to a midnight-quiet Emergency Room and then Delivery wing. There we hoped soon to meet our as-yet-indefinite child (we waited this time, to find out the child’s sex).
No comment on the glacial passing of the laboring night, but at about 9:56am on January 27th, we welcomed our… wait for it… boy! Some last second hesitation on the name, but then there he was: Virgil Ezekiel Clemmons.
About our third beloved child there’s much to say, but another time. For now, the vitals: 7lbs, 6oz, 21’’ long, typical bpm. Unlike most babies, he runs warm (clocking a regular 99° even without a hat), which it’s hard not to attribute to the fiery visions of his middle-namesake.
We passed two long, leisurely, mandatory hospital days, eager for the reunion of our family of 5, and one non-starting, emergency-jumped, new-battery-replaced car later, we were. As I type this, Erin is cuddling to quiet a fussy Virgil while reading to an attentive Eleanor and a frenetic Ames. Mother extraordinaire. Folks, I married very well. Eleanor & Ames are both taking well to their new roles as double-big sister and newly-big brother, respectively, as evidenced below:
Status Board
Reading: I enjoyed a handful of fun books in my spare January hours (highlights were Paul Kingsnorth’s Savage Gods and Christopher Beha’s The Index of Self-Destructive Acts), but by far the best reading I’ve done recently is finally cracking into Lesslie Newbigin, the mid- to late-20th century missionary bishop & theologian. I finished The Open Secret and Trinitarian Doctrine for Today’s Mission, and am about half-way into Foolishness to the Greeks. Every page is dense with wisdom, humble erudition, missionary zeal, and an electrifying Trinitarian theology. It takes forever to read, but I can already tell I’ll be returning to him again and again. Though they were contemporary, I don’t know if he and Alexander Schmemann ever met. But man, would they have had a lot to talk about.
Listening: I’m not as faithful a listener as I would like to be, but you should definitely know about the current project of my favorite living theologian, Alastair Roberts. He spent last year producing daily audio commentary for every reading in the lectionary for the Morning Office, and is spending this year doing the same for the Evening Office. By year’s end, he’ll have produced a full audio commentary on almost the entire Bible. It’s unreal. Every ~30-minute episode is chock-full of rich biblical insight which will help you know and love the Scriptures and the God who gave them to us. You can listen/subscribe to his daily podcast on Apple Podcasts or Soundcloud, or find them on his Youtube channel.
Watching: For my birthday, we returned to one of my favorite films of all-time: Jim Jarmusch’s Paterson. It’s a beautiful, patient, wry, poetic movie that is delightful and delighted with the world God has made. You should watch it someday. (It streams on Amazon Prime.)
Food & Drink: Meal trains. Wow. Floored again by the generosity of our friends & church family. An ancient and venerable practice, y’all should definitely get involved with you church’s meal ministry to the infirm, recovering, & newly baby-ed. It’s a wonderful way to meet people & such a huge blessing to receive.
Prayer Requests
The best way to support us is to join with the Son in remembering us before the Father. If you’d like to pray with and for us, here are some things you can remember:
give thanks with us for the safe arrival of Virgil Ezekiel!
a quick & safe recovery for Erin, who is doing well
that Eleanor & Ames would love & receive well their new sibling
that Erin might find time & energy for her art, and rejuvenation in it
that Zack would be granted the virtue to devote himself to study & service in this new semester
that we would be presented with more opportunities to witness to our neighbors
that a new job prospect for Zack would work out, and be a good fit
We’d also like to pray with and for you! If you’re reading this, you’re probably already in our prayers, but we’d love to know more specifically what we can pray for. You can text us, of course, or you can email us prayer requests at clemmonsonmission@gmail.com
We’re the Clemmons family–-Zack, Erin, Eleanor, Ames & Virgil–-living & studying & working in Birmingham, Alabama for sake of God’s Kingdom.
If you’d like, you can support us financially as we navigate this new season on mission, without incomes.
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