the revealing: music for epiphany

Here's some music for the season of Epiphany, which began on Friday and continues well into February. During this season, we focus on Jesus the human being: his birth, his coming of age, and the qualities of his ministry. I've arranged the music for this season by theme as follows:

Suite 1: Incarnation. Enjoy the Baby Jesus just a little longer, as the Magi did.

Suite 2: Baptism. Today (January 8) is the feast of Jesus' baptism, marking the beginning of his ministry. These songs are meant to evoke images of water and of the light of heaven breaking through and anointing Jesus as the Messiah.

Suite 3: Calling. Just as Jesus called disciples, he calls us, too. What is the shape of your call?

Suite 4: Fishing. We are called not just to be disciples, but to be apostles, sent out into the world with Good News.

Suite 5: Teaching. At the heart of Jesus' teaching was one very important concept: love.

Suite 6: Healing. Wherever Jesus went, he came close to people and healed them. Sometimes this meant curing them of their diseases as well.

Suite 7: Praise. The people came to adore Jesus profoundly.

Suite 8: Transfiguration. Many of the people wanted Jesus to become a powerful earthly ruler. But God had different plans, and the Transfiguration on the mountaintop marks the shift from Jesus' early ministry to the much more somber second half, as Jesus prepared to set his face toward Jerusalem and the Cross.

At various places in the suites, I have worked in the three movements of Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms, my favorite choral piece ever. These three pieces are sung in Hebrew, and I hope they are effective at tying in Jesus' Judaism and his grounding in the Psalms.

Please: If you like something you hear, go buy it!

Happy Epiphany from the Hoslers!

January 6, 2012

Dear friends and family:

Happy Epiphany from the Hoslers! We neglected to write an annual letter last year, so we have much to catch up on. In 2010, Josh was accepted as a postulant to the Episcopal priesthood, and we also decided that year that we would move to Virginia so Josh could attend seminary. So the early part of 2011 was full of projects and preparations: getting our West Seattle home up to snuff so it could be leased out, downsizing our possessions, and saying goodbye to many friends and family. We also said goodbye to our beloved cat Epitome, who died in March at the ripe old age of 15. Henry, at age 10, is still with us, although he has already stepped into the newly vacant role of “crotchety old grump.”

At the end of May, Christy completed her full-time contract job with Expedia and started some serious packing and house-cleaning. Josh’s job at St. Thomas continued for a month longer, and Sarah graduated from kindergarten in June as well. Our final weeks in Seattle were marked by celebrations: a very touching fundraising dinner at St. Thomas, a final chance for Josh to preach there and to say goodbye to his youth group, an early birthday party for Sarah, and a visit from Josh’s parents, who helped us pack all our remaining belongings and get them onto the moving van.

We hit the road July 21, and we chronicled our epic eleven-day road trip on Josh’s blog. Highlights included a visit with Christy’s friend Leanne in Oregon; two nights’ stay in Josh’s old hometown of Rupert, Idaho, including a reunion with his best childhood friend, Travis Freeman; crossing the Continental Divide in a Honda Civic as it puffed “I think I can”; a visit to the fantastic science museum in Denver; Sarah making great strides in her swimming abilities in hotel swimming pools; a flat tire in Topeka; Sarah losing her first tooth in St. Louis while we were out to dinner with our friend Angela; and finally, a few nights’ stay in Annandale, VA, at the home of our friends the Hoskinses, while we waited for the moving van to arrive.

August was all about adjusting to life in our two-bedroom apartment … and to a very different climate. Heat and humidity marked our first month, but that’s not all: we experienced both an earthquake and a hurricane! We did get to see both the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral before the earthquake; both were closed immediately afterward for extensive repairs. In the months that followed, we have also visited the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, the American History Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Also in August, Josh began classes, along with 45 other M.Div. students. So far he has taken Church History, Old Testament, Hebrew, and a couple classes in pastoral care and practical theology. He has joined the seminary choir, volunteered as a hospice chaplain, helped the seminary with a Lilly-funded research project, and visited a number of different Episcopal churches in order to scout out an eventual site for his field education (which will begin next fall). His main impression of his fellow students is that they are amazing: all of them are very accomplished people with a huge variety of gifts, and he’s eagerly learning from them as well as from his classes and professors.

After Labor Day, Sarah started at Douglas MacArthur Elementary School, a large public school with six different first-grade classes and solid music, art, and gym programs. Every morning she waits for the bus with other seminarians’ kids, and she has also made new friends from the population at large. Her favorite subject is math, and her reading is coming along well. Sarah has also joined the children’s choir at Church of the Holy Cross in Dunn Loring, VA, where she also enjoys weekly Godly Play stories. In December she played both an angel and a donkey in a musical Christmas pageant called “Angels Aware!”

At the end of September, Christy began a full-time position at the Cokesbury book store on campus. She was looking forward to getting in-depth retail training from the store manager, so it was something of a shock when he immediately left to take another job. After just ten days of training, Christy was surprised to find herself the only full-time employee at the store! In a few short months, she has learned a lot about receiving merchandise and ordering textbooks, and she struggles valiantly with the store’s ancient, DOS-based inventory system.

At both Thanksgiving and Christmas, we all journeyed to Ridgefield, Connecticut, to spend the holidays with Christy’s sister Patty and her family. Sarah was in paradise, with three cousins near her age to play with all day long. Christmas was particularly special because Christy’s parents and sister Sue flew out from Seattle to join us. After Christmas Day, Brian and Debbie came down to spend a week in Alexandria with us. During their visit, we ate at Gadsby’s Tavern, which was frequented by our nation’s first five presidents, and we visited Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington’s family.

As 2012 begins, we are very thankful for all the new friends who have welcomed us to Virginia and to all those we love back home in the Seattle area who continue to support us on this grand adventure!

With much love and best wishes for a great new year,

Josh, Christy & Sarah Hosler

The Revealing: Suites for the Season of Epiphany

We think of Epiphany as the day when the Magi arrive—January 6. (Always late every year, aren’t they?) But Epiphany becomes a whole season, stretching until the beginning of Lent. As an added bonus, Epiphany is VERY long this year—because Easter is VERY late (April 24).

This season is sometimes called “Ordinary Time,” but I don’t think it’s ordinary at all. It’s a green growing season in which we hear all about the young Jesus—the baby, the child, the young man beginning his ministry. I often wish we had more stories of Jesus as a child. We don’t, but those we have belong here.

Here's some music for Epiphany. It starts out sounding like Christmas music, but then it moves through stages of Jesus’ life and work. After his baptism, Jesus calls the disciples (we’ll save the temptation in the desert for Lent). He goes fishing for people. He teaches and heals. People flock to him and praise him for the amazing things God is doing through him. And finally, Jesus is transfigured on the mountaintop, marking a solid line between his earlier ministry and turning toward Jerusalem and his eventual crucifixion. We’ll also save that part for Lent, of course.

Mixed in at various points are the three movements of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms. Aside from being my favorite choral piece ever, these psalms connect us to Jesus’ Judaism, a piece we should never lose track of. They are sung in Hebrew, and I have tried to tie their content to the topic of each suite as best I can. The psalms Bernstein sets are …

Movement 1: Psalms 100 and 108
Movement 2: Psalms 2 and 23
Movement 3: Psalms 131 and 133

In addition, the music gets folksy sometimes, because Jesus hung out with regular folks. It has children’s songs, because Jesus loved children. It’s not just straight-up pop music—some of it is choral, some gospel, some country, some liturgical worship music, some electronic instrumental, some mellow pop, some alternative rock. Come to think of it, it’s a pretty bizarre mix. But I think that makes it an adventure. No doubt, every day with Jesus of Nazareth must have been a pretty wild ride. Enjoy the ride.

Yes, these recordings are under copyright, but the way I have mixed them into suites is original to me. If you hear something you like, please go buy it. I also welcome feedback on Epiphany music I might use to expand these suites next year!

(Right-click each header to download the suite.)

Epiphany Suite 1: Incarnation
Sufjan Stevens - The Incarnation/ Plainchant - Hodie Christus Natus Est [Procession]
Sufjan Stevens - Star of Wonder
Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms 1
Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan - God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen/We Three Kings
Natalie Merchant - Wonder
Benjamin Britten - This Little Babe (from ‘A Ceremony of Carols’)
Sufjan Stevens - What Child Is This, Anyway?

Epiphany Suite 2: Baptism
Sufjan Stevens - Tahquamenon Falls
Alison Krauss - Down to the River to Pray
Church of the Apostles [COTA] - Come to the Water
Sufjan Stevens - Alanson, Crooked River
The Fifth Dimension - Let the Sunshine In

Epiphany Suite 3: Calling
Kermit the Frog - The Rainbow Connection
Susan Werner - Don’t Explain It Away
Sheryl Crow - Light in Your Eyes
Sufjan Stevens - Vito’s Ordination Song
Gonzo the Great - I’m Going to Go Back There Someday

Epiphany Suite 4: Fishing
Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms 2
Mindy Smith - Come to Jesus
Chip Taylor - Dance with Jesus
Stevie Wonder - Have a Talk with God
Kanye West - Jesus Walks

Epiphany Suite 5: Teaching
XTC - The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead
The Beatles - All You Need Is Love
England Dan & John Ford Coley - Love Is the Answer
Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule

Epiphany Suite 6: Healing
Isaac Everett - Ministration
Sufjan Stevens - Oh God, Where Are You Now (In Pickerel Lake, Pigeon, Marquette, Mackinaw)
Judy Collins - Amazing Grace
Leonard Bernstein - Chichester Psalms 3

Epiphany Suite 7: Praise
George Harrison - My Sweet Lord
The Doobie Brothers - Jesus Is Just Alright
Stevie Wonder - As
Sixpence None the Richer - Melody of You

Epiphany Suite 8: Transfiguration
George Harrison - All Those Years Ago
Plainchant - Hodie Christus Natus Est [Recession]/ Isaac Everett - Misconception
Church of the Apostles [COTA] - Awaken Us to Your Glory
Sufjan Stevens - The Transfiguration