Celebrate the coming of Christ. Celebrate Incarnation. Celebrate Emmanuel.
For Unto Us a Child is born. Unto us a Son is Given. Isaiah 9:6-7
May this completed Advent be the start of a fresh, new journey with Jesus for the coming year, an unfolding experience of Emmanuel.
Advent morphs into Christmas. The #AdventWord calendar is now the swaddled babe. The Advent tree becomes a Christmas tree. Equipped with the skills of Advent we become Christmas people, followers of Jesus—laying the groundwork and working for the emerging kingdom of God.
The Power of Three-Sentence Stories ♦
Christ has died.
Christ is risen.
Christ will come again.
For Christians, the above three-sentence story is the essence of our faith: Christ’s victory over death and the promise of his return. Some Christians say these words every time they share bread and wine in the Holy Communion. Even small children can recite and remember these words.
Three-sentence stories are one of my favorite ways to order muddled thoughts. As a Christian formation tool, they give adults and children a safe and playful framework to organize and express ideas. I use 3-sentence stories in workshops and retreats, often as a way for people to summarize what they heard from a passage of Scripture. The stories can be oral or written.
Teaching 3-Sentence Stories
To teach the 3-sentence story form to children, start with a concrete, oral version. Ask them to describe the clothes they are wearing or what they ate for breakfast this morning. Give an example.
I ate one fried egg with a runny yolk.
The toast was too dark and crisp.
My coffee had cream and sugar in it.
When and How to Use this Tool
Three-sentence stories can be written as a private practice, but as a group activity they build community. Try 3-sentence stories in a family setting, a Christian formation class, an Adult forum, a church school class, or youth group. In my experience most people love to read their stories aloud. The collective result feels like a playful and powerful poetry jam. Because the stories are short, many people get to share.
As an Advent and Christmas Activity
Advent lends itself to writing and telling these simple stories. The rich vocabulary, characters, seasonal customs, and Bible stories provide opportunities to use this tool. Here are a few examples:
Tell a 3-sentence story about an Advent practice in your home:
We have purple candles in our wreath.
Purple is the new Red.
Like a traffic light, it signals STOP, wait, pay attention.
Tell a 3-sentence story about a character from the Bible:
Mary was a Jewish teenager.
The angel asked if she would be the mother of God’s son.
Mary said, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
In Advent we often talk about the word Hope. Write a 3-sentence story about what you hope for.
I hope for great schools and great healthcare for everyone.
I want to see older people have more choices for their lives.
I hope God will help me become a less judgmental person.
Proclaim Christmas in Three Sentences!
Here’s another idea for a 3-sentence story. I want to proclaim the Nativity with as much impact as “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” I want to highlight the miracle of the Incarnation, God’s presence on earth as the flesh and blood human named Jesus. So here is my first draft to capture the power and importance of the Nativity Season –Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany:
Christ is longed for.
Christ is born.
Christ will spread like wildfire.
What is your 3-sentence story for the Nativity Season?
♦ I first learned about 3-sentence stories from Interplay, “a global social movement dedicated to ease, connection, human sustainability and play.”
Today is the last day of Christmas and it seems there should be some appropriate greeting or words of benediction for this day. I’m trying some greetings on: “Godspeed Christmas” or “Merry Twelfth Night” or “Spread the Light of Christ” or “Glory to God in the Highest.” The last sentence works for me. These words are on my friend Carleton Bakkum’s wonderful paintings below. He calls this his Garage Art. I think it’s more like Cathedral Stained-Glass Window Art.
For some people Christmas is long gone, with ornaments packed away and hints of Valentine’s Day making their appearance. I am way too much of a Nativity Season extremist to let go before January 6. And I’m hoping to grasp some moments of stillness and prayer in a Christmas setting before it is over.
If you are looking for some Twelfth Night activities or closure for the Christmas season, here are a few ideas.
* Carleton’s art is acrylic on wood cut-outs.
It’s still Christmas and many signs of its enduring presence are visible:
Matthew 2: 1-8
1 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.”
3 When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him;
4 and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born.
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6 “And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.’ ”
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared.
8 Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” (NRSV)
The website Patheos–Hosting the Conversation on Faith addresses all religious and non-religious spiritual paths. It seeks to be a place where people ask questions and discussions take place about all world religions and even atheism.
One of their divisions is The Patheos Book Club. For the first two weeks of November The Season of the Nativity is one of their featured books. There are reviews by bloggers, a Q&A about the book, an article by me called “Five Ways to Experience an Extreme Advent,” and a video interview with Deborah Arca (a managing editor of Patheos). When I found out that Deborah not only has a theology background but is a jazz singer I suggested we sing the “Advent Chant” by Phil Porter form page 90 of the book. She agreed and we did. The Advent Chant starts about minute 16:00 of the the 18-minute interview.
Here is the link to all of the Patheos Book Club Season of the Nativity entries. Please pass this on. Thanks.
Just thought I’d be the first person to review the book. A little serious, a little snarky….
The Season of the Nativity: Confessions and Practices of an Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Extremist by Sybil MacBeth
A Review by Sybil MacBeth
After four books about the doodling prayer form she calls Praying in Color, Sybil MacBeth is traveling on a new path to God. Besides prayer, MacBeth is passionate about the Nativity season. Her latest book, The Season of the Nativity: Confessions and Practices of an Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany Extremist, is an invitation to join the ancient journey of Christmas celebration via some fresh ideas and some extreme practices–both spiritual and earthy.
Sure, she wants the focus of Christmas to be less Santa and more Jesus, less consumerism and more transformation, but she is a realist. As in her previous books, MacBeth writes with wit and whimsy about her own meager efforts to stay focused in prayer and disciplined in Christian practice. She invites individuals and families to bring their whole irreverent/holy selves on the Christmas pilgrimage through the preparatory weeks of Advent, the twelve days of Christmas, and the nebulous time of Epiphany. “This is the season,” she proclaims, “when Christ is imagined; Christ is born; and Christ will spread like wildfire.”
This is an odd little book. Odd, because like MacBeth’s mind, The Season of the Nativity flits from room to room. There is a bit of memoir, a bit of faux brain science, some front-porch theology and lots of great hands-on ways to celebrate Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany. Like the mismatched patterns of a Matisse painting, vividly contrasting sections of the book meet like striped and polka-dot walls in an impressionist still life. The book moves from fun, almost frivolous holiday practices to reverent and contemplative devotions in just a couple of pages. Praying Scripture, sprinkling purple sugar on ice cream, creating a prayer wall, staring at the stars, doodling on Advent calendars, and sleeping under the Christmas tree are just some of the varied ways it honors both the playful and serious side of the human spirit.
This is also an imperfect book. Imperfect, because MacBeth clearly has a preferential option for purple and more pages are dedicated to Advent practices than Christmas and Epiphany ones. But although it is a little purple-heavy, many of the suggested activities for Advent can be used during the other two seasons as well. And besides, MacBeth has been in love with Advent for a long time. She has only seriously courted Christmas and Epiphany in recent years.
Between the author’s menagerie of photos and doodles and the skill of the Paraclete Press design-team, Season of the Nativity is a 160-page treat for the eyes. This is not just a volume of words; it is a compelling visual journey. Readers will want to own the book and buy it for their family and friends as a holiday tool. In preparation for the first day of Advent (which falls on November 30 this year), Halloween or Thanksgiving might be the ideal occasion to give this book to others, especially to people who say, “I do not want a repeat of last year’s vapid and over-caffeinated Christmas.”
People of deep faith will appreciate this book, but so will those who struggle with faith and are unsure whether they can actually have a relationship with God. People who want to explore the Christian story can study theology or read history, but The Season of the Nativity gives readers the chance to immerse themselves in some of the stories and practices of Christian faith. MacBeth invites the reader into participation rather than insisting on a set of dogmas.
Amazon ratings and Richter scale numbers aside, The Season of the Nativity is a book to shake and shift holiday celebrations. It does not promise to end the chaos of the season but offers to moderate it with meaningful and creative practices. Readers who follow the author’s suggestions for the three seasons just might make some new or revised affirmations of faith at the end, not because of coercion but because of lived experience. Or they may just have a one-of-a-kind, not-to-be-repeated Nativity season adventure.
My new book, the Season of the Nativity: Confessions and Practices of An Advent, Epiphany, and Christmas Extremist, is now available. For years I have wanted to write a book about Advent because it’s my favorite season of the year. But Advent, I realized, is not a stand alone season; it’s part of a bigger picture. It’s the left hand panel of the Nativity Season triptych with Christmas in the middle and Epiphany on the right. Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany witness to Jesus’s presence on earth, to his flesh and blood self.
“Christmas, in my opinion, gets short shrift. For some reason, Christians have made the death, atonement, and resurrection of the Easter season the most important focus of theology and worship. We seem to have forgotten the mystery and wonder of Jesus’s mere existence and life on earth. The concept of the Incarnation—God coming to “dwell among us” as flesh and blood—is so fanciful and so reckless, it deserves more attention.” (p. 10-11)
This new book aims to give the Nativity season the attention it deserves. It celebrates Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany with a little theology, a little memoir, and lots of hands-on, head-on, heart-on activities for an individual or a whole family to do at home.
Check out my new Home Page and the Season of the Nativity Page on this website. The Season of the Nativity Page has some mini reviews and links to where you can buy the book. Think Halloween and Thanksgiving gifts! Please Share with others via the Facebook, Twitter…buttons below. Thanks.
“For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2Corinthians 4:6 NRSV)
Here is my friend Cindy O’s calendar.
Hallelujah! For unto us a child is born , unto us a son is given : and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor , The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6 KJV)
