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Rectangles of Light for Advent and Epiphany

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I know we are in the Season of the Epiphany, but I keep looking at these two Advent Calendars by Cindy O* and Melissa zL. There are so many symbols of light in them that the calendars could hang as reminders of Epiphany. Both Cindy and Melissa used a simple block calendar–nothing kitschy or fancy about the template. But each daily rectangle is a colorful window illuminating the story of God’s breaking into the world. On Cindy’s calendar, the first one, I love the Sunday progression of light on the weekly Advent wreath. The “family portrait” on Christmas Day makes me smile: the gathering of curious people around Jesus surrounded by holly and poinsettia. On Melissa’s calendar I love all of the visual references to light, especially the fireworks on Christmas. Of course, there must have been fireworks on that momentous night!

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by Melissa zur Loye

by Melissa zur Loye

Epiphany Intercessory Prayer

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Doodling is often the framework for my prayers for other people. “Drawing is taking a line for a walk,” said Paul Klee. Most of the time, the line takes me for a walk across the page. I don’t often have an idea for a doodle or a drawing. My concern for another person and a black pen start the process of prayer together on a piece of paper. Occasionally, a season of the year or an object informs my doodling. This prayer started on Epiphany, January 6. It just seemed right to start with a star: “Brightest and best of the stars of the morning, dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine aid. Star in the East, the horizon adorning, guide where our infant Redeemer is laid” (words by Reginald Heber)

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Spread a Little Light–Epiphany

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Today is the Feast of the Epiphany. Epiphany is about light. It is about the news of Jesus, the Christ, shining beyond the boundaries of a tiny town in a tiny country. Many theologians think Epiphany is the most important time of the church year and deserves more than one day of attention. I agree for both theological and personal reasons.

The theological reasons are expressed in the three stories we tell on this day: The magi arrive at the manger with gifts. Jesus turns water into wine at the wedding at Cana. John baptizes Jesus in the River Jordan. These stories are neon signs of the specialness of Jesus. Jesus is a king; he performs miracles; and a voice from the heavens says, “This is my Son, the Beloved with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3: 17 NRSV) This news will spread like wildfire. Epiphany is the the flashpoint, the manifestation of God with us, sending up flame and light for the world to see. This is more than a one-day event.

For me, Epiphany is a continuation of the Advent theme of “light in darkness.” It is a reminder of my call as a Christian to spread that light and to wear that light. So instead of packing up the Christmas lights and relegating them to the attic, I keep them up. Not quite until Spring, but until Lent. In the dark days of winter I need the visual cues of light to reinforce the Good News. The candles stay in the windows and the Christmas tree (morphed into an Epiphany bush) dresses up in white lights and stars.

When I was a child, we called January 6 “Little Christmas.” Some families I knew gave gifts on that day. I like the idea of giving little gifts of light–a small flashlight, matches, a night light, or a glow-in-the dark rosary–like the one that hangs on the lampshade right next to my bed and shines in the dark every night when I turn out the light.

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Advent Calendar 2016

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It is the 11th day of Christmas. Epiphany is in two days. In the church year we have moved from the preparation of Advent to the birth of Jesus on Christmas. So aren’t these Advent words on the calendar, and even Christmas “so last month”? Maybe not. When I look at my calendar, I am reminded that the words in the balls are really the words of my faith throughout the whole year. Although our Savior is born, we Christians are still waiting, watching, and hoping for the final fulfillment of the Christmas promises.

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Winter Solstice/Late Advent Activities for Children and Families

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The winter solstice–the darkest day and longest night of the year–is December 21. This is a perfect opportunity to introduce children to one of the juicy paradoxes of Advent. Darkness and Light, Light and Darkness walk hand in hand with us during Advent and every day of the year–literally and metaphorically. Darkness can be scary and unpredictable. We can’t see in the dark. Imaginations run wild with monsters under the bed and boogeymen in the closet. Criminals lurk in the shadows. Strangers appear even stranger in the darkness.

But darkness can also be cozy, a time to gather at tables, firesides, and bedsides at the end of a long day. We snuggle under blankets; we sleep in the dark. Our bodies grow and heal in the darkness. Dreams flourish in our sleeping hours. Plants and animals also rejuvenate at night. The same imagination that scares kids and adults alike can be ripe with mystery. Evening and darkness are often the backdrop for romance. Christmas lights and decorations, barely visible in the daylight, shine and perform at night. Stars provide beauty and direction at night.

Advent and the Winter Solstice provide a framework for respecting and celebrating both the terror and the triumph of the darkness. Daylight will grow longer and longer as the days pass the solstice. Into the darkness of a conflicted and hurting world comes the Light of the World. The darkness of Christmas night shimmers with the birth of Jesus.

Here are a few simple ways to mark the winter solstice in the midst of Advent:

♦Set up a small table or place for a child to experience light in the midst of the darkness all alone. Place some battery-operated candles on the table with an old-fashioned 3-7 minute egg timer. Invite your child to be quiet for those minutes as they watch the grains of sand fall and mark off the moments of time. Another way to create the same experience is to provide them with private time by the Christmas lighted tree in an otherwise dark room. As a kid I thought this was a magical time.

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♦Gather the members of your household and find the darkest place in the house—the basement, a big closet, a place with room-darkening shades. Try to remove all signs of light. Sit in a circle together in the dark room. Be silent for a minute or two. Then ask the question: “What do you notice about sitting in the dark?” Then try sitting in the dark again, this time holding hands. Ask the “noticing” question again. Then light a candle; be silent, and ask the “noticing” question again.

♦Go outside and look at the stars. If it’s cold, bundle up the kids in pajamas and blankets. Look up and out. Ask children what they see in the sky and around them. What is different from what they see in the daytime? Paying attention and watching are two of the habits we cultivate during Advent. If you know some of the planets, stars, and constellations, point them out.

♦Create a breath prayer specifically for the Winter Solstice and the last days of Advent. A breath prayer is a short, two-part prayer. One part is a name for God; the second part is a petition or request. Here are some examples: “Loving Jesus, come quickly.”  “God of light, take away my fear.” “Holy One, shine in my heart.” Keep the prayer at the tip of your tongue and the pocket of your heart, so you can say it all through the day and night. This ancient prayer form is a way to “pray without ceasing.”

♦Teach a simple darkness/light song. Several of the Taize Chants are easy to learn: The Lord is my Light And Within Our Darkest Night. These songs are like musical breath prayers.Here is a link to other Advent/Winter Solstice “paperless” songs from Music That Makes Community.

Sensible Shoes, Two Steps Forward, and Barefoot–A Series of Novels about Walking the Spiritual Journey

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A few years ago, I was asked by Inter Varsity Press (IVP) to read and write a blurb for a new book called Sensible Shoes: A Story About the Spiritual Journey (2013) by Sharon Garlough Brown. Sensible Shoes is the story of four very different women who show up at the same retreat and become enduring friends and fellow travelers on the spiritual journey. The retreat they attend is a series of sessions designed to teach new and old Christian prayer practices. The four women are:

Mara––a forty-something mother of two sons in a troubled marriage.
Hannah–a woman pastor on sabbatical from her high–pressure big city church position.
Charissa—a newlywed in her twenties working towards her PhD and a promising career as a college professor.
Meg—a widow with a teenaged daughter.

On the surface these women have little in common. They are in different phases and decades of their lives. What they do have in common is their desire to improve their Christian spiritual lives. This desire leads them to form the Sensible Shoes Club, a continuation of the work they started at the retreat.

Here is what I wrote for IVP. A shortened version appeared on the back of the book.

I don’t usually like didactic fiction. If you want to teach me something, say it directly, not through characters and story, not with four women going on a retreat to learn ancient Christian practices and prayer forms as the plot. That was my response to the first pages of Sensible Shoes. But as I read on, somewhat annoyed with these four flawed women, I started to care about them–even as they provoked me. “Learn to linger with what provokes you. You may just find the Spirit of God moving there,” says professor Nate Allen, a character in the book. I took his advice. And I realized that what provoked me was that these women were women I knew; I have been on retreats with them and I am one of them. Their neediness, arrogance, cluelessness, perfectionism, self-pity, co-dependence… are mine.  

By the end of the book I was grateful for author Sharon Garlough Brown’s fresh eyes and voice. She not only gave me re-sharpened tools for my journey with Jesus but also reminded me that I need fellow pilgrims to love me and keep me honest along the way.

Sensible Shoes became the first book in a trilogy. I looked forward to the second book called Two Steps Forward: A Story of Persevering Hope. (2015)  The third, Barefoot: A Story of Surrendering to God (2016), was released this November. I have now read all three of the books and I am a fan. What I like about Mara, Hannah, Charissa, and Meg is their no pretense struggles with faith and their flawed efforts to practice some spiritual discipline. Just because they are Christians, their lives are not all smiles and sweetness. Frustration and anger are part of their spiritual vocabulary as well as gratitude and hope. Author Sharon Garlough Brown has done a great job of fleshing out real, twenty-first century women trying to live a Christian life.

Unlike non-fiction books about prayer practices, the reader witnesses the four women actually doing them. In Barefoot, they write letters to Jesus and use the “prayer of imagination” in which they place themselves in a scriptural story. In the earlier books, we see them walk the labyrinth and practice lectio divina—an ancient way to listen to and pray scripture. Mara, Hannah, Charissa, and Meg meet on a regular basis to pray together, support each other, and talk about their lives and their faith. They address the real conflicts and content of their lives–hopes realized, shattered dreams, tough teenagers, broken marriages, blooming romance, home versus work issues, daily life…. Maybe it sounds corny or pious, but it’s not. I would love to be part of an ongoing group like this—one in which we don’t just analyze or theologize, but one where we risk surrendering our egos and also learn how to surrender to God.

Consider giving this series as a Christmas gift. It can appeal to women across the Christian spectrum. If you are from a heady or more liberal denomination like I am, some of the intimate language of talking with God and Jesus might feel uncomfortable. This is a chance to embrace this discomfort and watch as these four believable women live into their faith. If you are more conservative and a little skeptical about some of these new ways to pray, ask God to journey with you into the unfamiliar and scary territory.

I would miss these four women, but I just received word of a fourth book in the series: An Extra Mile: A Story of Embracing God’s Call.

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 Sensible Shoes                Two Steps Forward                   Barefoot

Sharon Garlough Brown (MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary), the author, is a spiritual director and co-founder of Abiding Way Ministries, which provides spiritual formation retreats and resources. Sharon and her husband, Jack, have served on the pastoral staff of churches in Scotland, Oklahoma, England, and Michigan.

 

Pray and Color–A Coloring Book for Prayer

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What do the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas and Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia have in common? Both are offering coloring books as stress relievers. According to a New York Times article on November 21, 2016, “…the Four Seasons Hotel Austin in Texas started allowing guests to request coloring book pages and crayons at the front desk and offering groups an “Inspiration Station” stocked with crayons and coloring pages of mandalas.” A quote from The Washington Free Beacon describes the”Stress Busters” offered during reading week at Virginia Military Academy. The article quotes VMI as saying, “This is an opportunity for cadets to unwind and relax before studying for finals. This event often includes stress reduction activities such as yoga, therapy dogs, coloring book stations, card/game stations, and grab-and-go snacks to take with you on your way to study!”

In spin-off articles about the coloring books, some sources talk about coddling young adults and turning adults back into children. These were not sympathetic comments, but snide and dismissive.The words idiocracy and coloring books have been used in the same sentence by other disdainers. I don’t know about the possible negative consequences of coloring for business men and women or future American military officers, but I do know that becoming more childlike and playful in my prayer life has made me a better pray-er.  A better pray-er is not necessarily a person who can articulate elegant prayers to God or who gets exactly what she prayed for. I mean a person who has become more childlike and vulnerable and less judgmental about their own or others’ imperfect and shabby prayers. Praying with pen and colored markers or pencils in hand—what I have called praying in color—has helped me to focus, sit still, and pay attention in prayer. I doodle and color as a way to invite my body into the prayer and to create a time and space where I am less distracted, less likely to give up after a few minutes, and more likely to listen for the “still small voice.” If this is a return to childhood, then I’m all for it. I like to think this practice is not childish, but that it helps me to be childlike. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” NRSV

So if you are looking for an inexpensive gift that encourages both childlike and prayerful behavior, consider buying the coloring book/prayer primer I drew and wrote this  year. Pray and Color (not to be confused with the original Praying in Color) has 32 coloring pages designed as templates for prayers. The beginning of the book describes 14 different ways to pray using the pages. The retail cost of Pray and Color is $14.99, but many stores offer it for less. It could be a gift for male or female, teenager or adult. Combine it with some personalized colored pencils or markers and a black roller ball pen. (I often like to draw additional lines or marks.) If your gift recipient is allergic to pastels, then create a bold or earthy palette of colors for them. To purchase from Amazon click on the book cover.

Below are two examples of prayer forms and coloring pages. Most of the templates can be used for a wide variety of prayer forms. To the right of the book cover is Praying Your To-Do List. Both the empty template and a partially completed colored prayer are included. Our daily activities, the things on our “to-do” list hardly seem worth prayers. But think of the opportunities we have for both frustration and compassion during the day. Before we call the phone company or buy an unwanted gift for someone, offering those tasks in prayer just might reframe the day as full of opportunity rather than drudgery. Some of the other things on the to-do list are chances to say, “Thank you” or “Help” or “I’m sorry.”

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The blank and colored prayer pages below are an example of a “Hodgepodge” prayer. On the coloring page or template I offer up anything on my mind to God: feelings, intercessions for others, gratitudes, questions, hopes, frustrations, sorrows, prayers for myself….

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Advent Three

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This is one of those weird Advents when the third Sunday of Advent only marks the halfway point to Christmas. Because December 25 is on a Sunday this year, there is a whole week after the fourth Sunday of Advent until Christmas Day. My Advent calendar of words has only 15 completed ornaments of the 28 and yet I lit the third candle on the wreath today. The extra days are good news to me. I have just begun to settle into a daily routine of reading and drawing. Although Advent is a special time of attention and reflection, I also think it the dress rehearsal for how to make room and space for God in my life all year. It takes time to learn to take time. Advent gives me permission to learn how.

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There are hints of December, Advent, winter, and Christmas in our house and neighborhood even without my intentional attempts at spiritual discipline and the staging of visual seasonal reminders. The holly in our front yard is full of berries and yesterday a mass of robins ate half of them in two hours. Usually their appearance means there will not be a single berry left when they depart. My interference with clippers in a desperate attempt to salvage some branches may have interrupted their annual feeding frenzy. I expect them to swoop down again soon and finish the job.

Our two Christmas cactuses are covered with buds. The younger one, the eight-year old on the left, has many blossoms and seems in a hurry to get to the finish line. The other, a plant I have had for 45 years, is full of buds, but moseying to maturity in its own time. Both plants seem to know of Advent’s arrival because they start their march to full flower every year at the end of November. It’s almost as if they are accompanying me on the Advent journey and saying, “Make way. Be not afraid. There is hope. Break forth.”

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Where I Found Jesus

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I first saw this meme about eight years ago. The intent might have been a smug dis of the ubiquitous “I Found Jesus” posters, buttons, and bumper stickers popular at the time. Or maybe it was not a dis, but both a funny and serious affirmation of the unlikely places where Jesus shows up. I laughed out loud when I read it, but you know, I think I did find Jesus behind the sofa.

When I was eight years old, my parents bought a brand new house in a brand new development of three hundred houses. Each house was red brick with white siding. There were five models of homes, variations on ranches and split-levels. Every street in the neighborhood started with the letter S—a postal worker’s nightmare and a source of fear for a little kid looking for his or her street in a blur of red and white houses. Although I loved the swarm of kids my age on my street, I hated the new house. It had no trees or bushes. In our previous yard, there were oak trees, pine trees, and hydrangea bushes. The newness and bareness of the property and the house itself felt a little soulless.

My parents owned the house for almost forty years. When I recall living there, I think of the one room I cherished. It was the living room that split the house into the upstairs and downstairs. It was the room for entertaining guests, not the place where we spent ordinary time or watched television. I loved the specialness and sanctuary of the living room. While other family members congregated in the family-room downstairs, I tiptoed shoeless on the thick white wool rug and hunkered down behind the living room’s white brocade sofa. It was a great place to be alone, play with my paper dolls, and browse the Encyclopedia Britannica Jr. Behind the sofa was also the place in my early days of literacy where I read my small, red leather King James Bible. Lying next to the radiator behind the sofa, I memorized Psalms and read the Gospel stories of the New Testament. It was there in my private little sanctuary that I first fell in love with Jesus.

Christmas was celebrated in the living room. The Christmas tree stood in front of the big picture window.  When the Christmas tree was decorated and all lighted up a week or two before Christmas, it became my sanctuary within the sanctuary. I spent hours curled up under its branches. Sometimes I just lounged in the magic of the ornaments, the lights, and the silence. Sometimes, Christmas music played on the hunky hi-fi. Every year my father brought home a new Firestone record album with titles like Your Christmas Favorites. Songs from other countries, a cappella carols, and unfamiliar melodies floated through the room. The carols from these albums filled me with joy. The music and lyrics became part of my lifelong prayer and worship vocabulary.

In retrospect, the hours spent under the Christmas tree were my first Advents. The church of my childhood did not celebrate Advent but the time of quiet I spent under the tree was full of expectancy and promise. Something unknown and bigger than myself was about to happen. The Jesus I had met behind the sofa had moved with me under the tree. And more about him was going to be revealed.

This post was adapted and updated from a 2009 entry I wrote for the Purpose-Driven Connection. The bumper sticker came from a website called Azure Green. The one above is no longer available, but a different version appears on the site.

Participatory Advent Wreath/Calendar for Kids

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Advent wreaths do not have to be perfect, beautiful artistic creations by the adults. Four candles and a few things from the outside–leaves, stones, greens, rosemary OR from inside–ribbon, paper clips, rubber bands, buttons, stickers… can make a seasonally perfect-imperfect Advent wreath. Some Advent wreaths are especially child/kid friendly.

  • Place four votive candles on a piece of butcher paper or 11×17 card stock. Give your children snippets of purple (or blue ribbon) and let them scatter the pieces around the paper. Each day let them draw something associated with the season or even just a nebulous doodle. If a child is old enough, let them choose from a grab bag of Advent words to write on the page: darkness, light, hope, wait, watch, listen, patience, hope, savior…. It’s a great opportunity to expand their vocabulary. As the weeks pass, the page will be covered with their designs and form a progressive Advent calendar.Blue Votives Resized
  • Battery-operated candles are a great way to give a child permission to relight the candle or candles each day. I have found purple and blue ones at the Dollar Tree, but also used a colored marker to turn white ones into either color. My new favorite ones are floating battery-operated candles from a company called 100Candles. They are about $1.19 each. Flickering ones are a little more expensive.

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Check out the berries and plants that come from outside. Toddlers might think they look pretty appetizing.