The Lord of Misrule
My Dear People,
So tonight is Twelfth Night, the night on which, for centuries, a "Lord of Misrule" was appointed, to preside over festivities marking the end of Christmastide.
On Twelfth Night, the world is turned upside down, the rules are suspended. In Shakespeare, a woman dresses as a man, and a servant acts as nobleman. In many cathedrals, a boy chorister is appointed bishop for a time, taking the bishop's seat as presider, wearing his miter and carrying his crosier.
Eventually the Church decided that the festivities had gotten out of hand and thus the custom was abolished. And yet perhaps we, the Church, were onto something way back then.
After all, the one we call the King of Kings was born in a stable, in a little town, on the edge of the Roman Empire, with an audience of animals, shepherds, and foreigners.
What are the rules that he, the original Lord of Misrule, might suspend in our lives? What are the things in my life and in yours that he would turn upside down?
For, while that little, cooing King came in the name of lovingkindness, he also came to change our lives, and to change our world, into something better, braver, and more beautiful than we ever, ever, ever could have imagined.
As the angel of the Lord said, "Let the wild rumpus begin!"
Your brother in Christ,
Wallace+
