Two Soups and Two Words on This Second Day of Christmas

Yes, Virginia, I do celebrate Christmas clear up until the day of Epiphany. A week ago I thought of sharing two soup recipes on this day (a broth and a soup to be specific), and I remembered I had two Advent words I never addressed: belief and trust. Therefore, this is a 2-in-1 post. The recipes for the broth and soup follow at the end. (Any responses ought to be interesting. The last time I posted on a soup Zuppa Toscana and Play , I received a strange comment from someone trying to sell me mushrooms. After that, I put my comment section on "check with me first" status.)

First, a picture of Chicken Bone Broth in the making. If you're vegetarian, you can also make this without the chicken bone, or in this case, turkey bone. In the freezer section of my local grocery store, I can buy organic turkey breast on the bone. So, my family and I have a meal of the turkey breast, and then I use the bones to make this broth.

The pictures that follow were the Minestrone soup I made with the Chicken/Turkey broth. Excuse the quality of the photographs, please. Food photography is not one of my skills. As it turns out, my husband likes this Minestrone soup best when made with beef bone broth or vegetarian broth, but I like it any way I cook it. It is much tastier than soup in a can.

The first of these three shows the cut up vegetables, the second the broth (where I realized I had not added the cut up tomatoes yet), and the third is the finished soup.

What does this have to do with words? The words I did not post on during Advent Word 2017 were belief and trust. Here is my connection: last night a random thought came into my head that life was not as easy to control as the making of soup. Then, another thought came to me. I started musing on whether in belief, I have more control than in trust.

The best definitions I have ever read about belief and trust come from Dallas Willard and from Elane O'Rourke in her compilation book A Dallas Willard Dictionary.

"We tend to think of belief as a lesser form of knowledge. Where knowledge is an idea that is true or could be proven true, belief seems to be something we hope (or fear) is true without having proof. That is, in common usage a 'belief' is just an idea we do not know to be true.

"In Dallas's work, belief is a different type of idea than knowledge. Beliefs may turn out to be true or false, but what matters about them is that they motivate our actions. Beliefs have a connection to the will -- to our actions and behavior -- that knowledge does not. You can know something and take no action on your knowledge. If you actually believe something, you are prepared to act on that belief. When beliefs are founded in knowledge, they are reliable guides to behavior. When they are founded on emotion or falsehoods, they may be true, but are not consistently reliable.

"What makes this trickier is that we are not always aware of our real beliefs; in fact, most of what we believe we never even think about. And, judging by our actions, we often believe ideas that, if asked, we would say were false!" (O'Rourke 21)

Still pondering here...this is why when many of my friends who would not call themselves Christians wonder at the behavior of someone who states that he or she is a Christian, it could be that the Christian's real beliefs are ones that he or she categorically identifies as false. Or, the person believes about Jesus but not in Jesus.

AND, the connection to Christ this Christmas: "We are often encouraged to believe something about Jesus...However, believing in Jesus is about trusting him, and being ready with our whole person to act as if what he says is so" (O'Rourke 22).

"We might distinguish between trusting that and trusting in. There's a qualitative difference between trusting that our children will be home by 10 [o'clock] and trusting in our children. Trusting that is more like assenting that a certain statement is highly likely to be true: 'I trust that my child will be home by 10' may say very little about our relationship with the child, but a lot about her chaperone, or the bus she's on, or the training we have given her. But 'I trust (in) my child' suggests an interactive relationship based on knowledge and past experience.

"In this deeper sense, trust has an element of entrusting -- a giving over of a treasure for safekeeping -- or surrender. When you trust your child, you are surrendering your powers of approval and interference.

"Trusting Jesus, therefore, is different than trusting that Jesus did thus and so. When you trust (in) him, you are entrusting your treasures to him, including your treasured willful self-determination" (ibid 287).

From Dallas's book Knowing Christ Today: "But to know Christ in the kingdom of God we must abandon ourselves to a total transformation of who we are on the inside, to taking on the character of Christ through living with him day by day by day and hour by hour. Only that is trust in Christ" (152).

As I close out one year and enter a new year, I want to not only eat well but also to live well.

The recipes:
Bone Broth

I rinse all of my vegetables well but I do not peel them. Then, I chunk them. Also, I will give amounts, but basically, whatever I have available goes into the stock pot which can apparently be ready to use in 4 hours although I simmer it overnight.

Place in a large stockpot (my small crockpot boils over but a large one might do):
1 organic chicken or turkey carcass (I also have used organic chicken wings)
6 unpeeled carrots
2 unpeeled yellow onions
2 leeks (we are probably going to stop using leeks as we are fond of the flavor)
1 bunch of celery (use the heart, leaves, etc.)
4 unpeeled red potatoes (I use all colors, whatever I have)
2-3 sweet potatoes
8 unpeeled cloves garlic, halved (yeah, it sounds strange to keep the peels, but you will be straining this broth)
1 bunch of parsley, if you like (I tend to forget the parsley)
12 black peppercorns
4 allspice or juniper berries (I don't usually have)
2 bay leaves (when I remember)

Make sure the water covers everything in the pot and isn't too close to the top (or be prepared to keep cleaning up the stove and counter).

Skim off the fat that rises to the top (you may not be able to get it all). After you have simmered it at least 4 hours, strain the broth through a large sieve. I push on the vegetables and bones to get all the good stuff out (gives a real visual of squeezing the "marrow out of life" as one squeezes the marrow out of the bones).

Stir in about 1 teaspoon of sea salt. Refrigeration will allow you to skim more fat off of the top. I've read that it can keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days or the freezer for 3 months. One one hand it seems to make a lot. On the other hand, if you're using it regularly, it seems to go fast. I use it in making...

Minestrone Soup

Heat 2 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a big soup pot.
Add 1 cup finely diced yellow onion (this time without the peels!)
Add a pinch of sea salt and sauté until the onion is golden.

Add the following vegetables (peeled where necessary):
1 cup diced carrot
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced zucchini (I have not liked the looks of the zucchini this winter, but we have some organic vegetables from our local university. The Delicata squash has been great! It has been a first for me in using delicata squash.)

Add the following spices:
1/2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds, crushed (um, yeah, you should see me trying to crush fennel seeds)

Add 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and sauté for another 4-5 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup of vegetable or bone broth and cook until it is reduced by about half (not very long).

Add 7 and 1/2 cups of broth (making a total of 8 cups -- see that's where all your broth goes). Add 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (which I know this is going to sound like heresy for making Minestrone Soup, but I think we are going to leave out next time because I do believe -- and, thus, I am taking action on it -- that I am allergic to tomatoes). Add 1 (15 ounce) can of red kidney beans. I made it with red kidney beans the first time, but accidentally grabbed the cannellini beans (white kidney) the second time.
 
Cook for about 20 minutes.

Stir in 4 ounces of pasta, and cook the amount of time stated on the pasta box. Because I am gluten-free (thanks to my dad who genetically passed on Celiac's to me), I use a gluten-free spiral noodle and break them in half so that my husband won't complain about them.

Enjoy!

Musings on This Fourth Sunday of Advent 2017

Although I made it further than I did last year with AdventWord, I ended up unable to blog through the rest of the days. In fact, on the last post (day 19 -- "renew"), I realized I became distracted and forgot to write the thoughts most precious to me. So, here, I am musing about the last of the words, starting with following up my thoughts on "Renew."

I discovered there were a great many times of renewal for which I had no photos. Precious moments of laughter, sacred times of prayer, companionable times of silence filled my memories. For each, it dawned on me that these had been holy moments, moments when I needed to take off my shoes, for I was standing upon holy ground. What a surprise, also, that holy moments can be moments of laughter and dancing as well as moments of reverent awe. This led me to understand that in joy or sorrow, I can look for holy moments.

Whether I am like a quiet child reading, a holy family on an arduous journey, or celebrating with gaiety, I can look for holy moments.

Day 20's word was "greeting" and Day 21 was "child." (The first Sunday of Advent started on December 3; thus, we have twenty-three days of Advent which do not line up exactly with calendar dates.)

I chose this Christmas greeting card to send out to friends and family who would delight in it because the family looks like they could be from Jerusalem. As I enlarged the picture, I saw the artist had painted what looks like dirt under the fingernails. They still look a lot more pulled together than I would after a journey, but the picture had more touches of realism than others I have seen.

Pictures of reality and thinking of others appeal to me. I would like to greet each person I talk to in such a way that I think of the person and his or her personal pool of tears or lake of joy.

My Savior, the child Jesus, grew up and reminded all he met to love others as we love ourselves. We also have Matthew 7:12 -- "Treat others as you would have them treat you." Our insistence upon our way of greeting does not lead a person closer to Christ if he or she is far away.

A child can lead us. My granddaughter delights in the tradition of moving Mary and Joseph. So much so, she used the tradition as the topic of her speech in a second grade public school classroom. She spoke with delight, and the other children asked questions in an equally delightful way. When our relationship with someone we love naturally spills out of us, there's no feeling of "my rights" and "your rights."

The word for day 22 was "believe." Please forgive me if in the interest of space and time, I leave that word (just as I did for the word "trust") for another day.

Today's word is "celebrate." Many families I know struggle with that word this month and this year. Loved ones have died and other loved ones are seriously ill. Families have lost homes to fires that raged throughout my state this year. For each, my prayer is for holy moments, healing and hope; for love and peace when celebration is not there. I close with two poems that came from a dear friend in her Christmas card. The poems were written by a poet unknown to me (Jan Richardson), but I intend to look her up.

May there come 
One searing word -- 
Enough to bare you 
To the bone, 
Enough to set your heart ablaze, 
Enough to make you 
Whole again. 

Blessed Are You Who Bear the Light
Blessed are you 
Who bear the light 
in unbearable times, 
who testify 
to its endurance 
amid the unendurable, 
who bear witness 
to its persistence 
when everything seems 
in shadow 
and grief. 

Blessed are you 
in whom 
the light lives, 
in whom 
the brightness blazes--
your heart 
a chapel,
an altar where 
in the deepest night 
can be seen 
the fire that 
shines forth in you
in unaccountable faith, 
in stubborn hope, 
in love that illumines 
every broken thing 
it finds. 

Day 17 (on Day 18 of Advent) -- I'm Embracing Open as a Messy Word

Yes, I'm a day late on #adventword2017. I'm still on #open when today's word is #embrace. I thought about open when I first picked up the list of words for Advent. My thoughts went to a poem by Emily Dickinson. Since then, I've moved on like my Mary and Joseph.

My granddaughter loves the picture above because she says her aunt is looking at the Holy Family. She says she is, too, but her head is barely showing. I thought about cleaning up the end table for the picture, but I decided this year to be open in how my house truly looks. My choices for posting the picture below were either "don't post" or "be real" since I noticed the lack of baseboards and something (a bug?) showing after we took the picture.

When I think of Mary and Joseph, I realize the place that was "open" for them could hardly have made the front cover of a decorating magazine. But, when you're about to give birth and the inns are closed, you "embrace" what you have.

Being "open" with our homes, with our lives, with our hearts, minds, and souls takes courage because we can't control every aspect of our lives. There are times and seasons for being closed -- sleep is a good time; times of recharging are good times. My hope is to "embrace" open and closed, each appropriately, wisely, and well so that I and all I come into contact with can flourish in messy love, joy, and peace.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could embrace each other with love? Wouldn't it be lovely if we could enjoy being with those with decorating skills (it takes being open to be willing to share one's talents) and with those of us whose skills are elsewhere (it takes being open to be willing to share in the midst of our messiness)?

Here is where Mary and Joseph are now, under a tree with crooked candles, watched by an angel handmade by my husband when he was in grade school. Sigh, as I look over at the lamp where I took the picture, I bet there's dust showing, too. Open. Messy. Real. Grateful. I have a lamp and I have a roof over my head. God loves me. He loves you, too.

Fifth Day of Advent: Proclaim

Pastors, preachers, priests, must have a difficult time every year between Thanksgiving and New Year's. How does one teach a lesson that they've already taught before to the same crowd? I was a teacher, but at least I had a new crowd each year. However, I have written Advent posts before, and it was tempting today to just leave proclaiming to the picture below and resurrect an old post. 

What impelled me to write was Facebook. Yes, there's lots to dislike about social media, but, thus far, the Facebook organization allows the pages of deceased people to stay in circulation. (Stick with me here.) As I write this, I'm not deceased obviously. Yet a time will come when I am not here and it could be that my post will touch someone's life, just as saints of old made a difference in my life from an early age. 

Through stories of St. Teresa and St. Therese, the stories of St. Augustine and St. Francis, and many more, I learned how to have a relationship with God. I suppose some people cast off the relationship with God of their younger years as some friendship with an imaginary friend. I did not. The relationship was too real. And, I wasn't the only one who knew God existed. 

I did, however, like young Goodman Brown of Nathaniel Hawthorne short story fame, want to check out the wild side. I've learned that the wild side of God is quite an adventure, but back then, the world's wild side killed some of my friends and usually found me throwing up in a toilet bowl. Frankly, it just was not enjoyable. 

I cast my lot with the Christians. Now there are Christians, and there are Christians. One group follows rules and one group follows Christ. I'm trying to keep this proclaiming short, so let me just say that I know now what it is like to be in a community of those who follow Christ and his commandments: Love God; love others. 

When I ask myself, "Would you ever not believe in God?" I end up asking myself: "What do I do with situations that just can not be explained? One example: I had a dream, a detailed dream. The heart and soul of the dream was about an acquaintance (I didn't even know where he lived anymore) who I later found out was despondent, despairing, desperate, hopeless. God wanted him to know that he was loved by God and that he was not a failure.  I thought this is crazy: I can't contact this person. I don't even know if this email address is correct. Still, what if I wasn't crazy? I wrote out the entire dream (along with "please, please, please don't think I'm insane"). I received a long email back telling me the devastating failure that the young man had faced, a failure in his work that if it had not been caught by another could have led to tragedy. He was at the lowest point ever in his life. I can take no credit for reaching out to this person. Some of my teachers have rightly said that sometimes the only way God can get through to us is through dreams. If I were stronger in my hearing of God, perhaps God could have just flat out told me and I would have known what to do. Nonetheless, this was a situation that I can not explain away, and there have been others like it. 

My belief is also more than something I just proclaim or speak out. I trust Jesus not as my "get out of hell free" card, but as my friend and God whose salvation is for me daily. I was never one to think about a "life verse" but I guess I ended up with one anyway through a rather odd story that I won't tell here. 

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God" Romans 5:1-2.  

Fourth Day of Advent: Listen

Not only did I struggle to find an image for today's AdventWord "listen", I also struggled to write an upbeat encouraging Christmas-y ("Sleigh bells ring, are you listening?") blog. Then, the picture I took (the second one below) when posted shows mostly the wall in the post! So, for purposes of posting, I am adding the picture directly below: Grandpa listening to his granddaughter while the youngest one listens to both.

We struggle to listen and be plugged in -- to God, to each other. Perhaps there are too many voices and too many noises for us to hear the Lord God's still, small (small in sound, quiet) voice, a powerful voice gentle and meek. Not like a baby's voice, as precious as the Christmas image of Jesus as a baby is. Yet when we quiet ourselves, we can hear Him, and in hearing Him, we can then hear the lonely, the lost, the hurting. We can hear Him say:

"But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you....Love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful" (portions from Luke 6:27-36 -- the whole passage is Jesus' amazing argument as to why we are called to love).

My friend in the picture above listened not only to this dear man play the piano in a shopping mall, but also listened as he told us his story. She brought a moment of joy to his lonely life. Her presence was a gift which said to him, "You are loved."

As we go about shopping during this Advent season, might we consider that the gift of listening is truly one that says, "You are loved." 

Third Day of Advent: Renewal and Hope in Christ's Name

Renew? Made fresh; the old made new? What sort of photo could I take this day to show "renew"? I didn't know anyone who was renewing their wedding vows today. Then, I glanced over at my Christmas Cactus.

This cactus is seventeen years old. It was given to me by a student when I taught fourth grade. It's a miracle that it is still alive (I'm not the best gardener.) The plant was surviving but not thriving as shown by the inner leaves on the lower left. Then, a cousin posted a picture of her Christmas cactus in full bloom. When I asked her how she encouraged the plant to bloom, she didn't do much to it except place it in a window with morning light. I changed my plant to the other side of the house (as shown in the lower righthand picture) and my plant was renewed!

I realized I have experienced that renewal in relationship with Christ and in relationship with Christ's people. This picture below is where I met with my classmates from Renovaré -- a French form of the word "renew".

I learned anew to place my hope in Christ's name and friendship, of Whom was written:

" But when Jesus knew [that the Pharisees held a council against him, how they might destroy him], he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,  Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust" (Matthew 12: 14-21). 

During this season of Advent (and indeed every season) I need to place myself in the Light of the One in Whom I trust, hope in His name, and be renewed.

#adventword #renew

2nd Day of Advent: Love and Waiting in Hope

In this four generation picture, love abides. My father has Alzheimer's. He doesn't remember my name but still remembers some of the time that I am family. He gets up in the middle of the night and doesn't know how to get back to his room. He doesn't like to take showers or baths. He is like a little boy, but he is a little boy who still knows what love looks like. 

My dad is "waiting in hope", another phrase for this advent day. 

"Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord...I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in his word do I hope...My soul waits for for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning...for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption..." (from Psalm 130). 

And, when my dad does not remember to wait in hope, we stand in the gap and do the waiting for him. That's what love looks like. Love is a choice. We choose each day to love, to will the good of others. What is the good of others? Can't get much better than really looking at how Jesus treated people: patiently, kindly, courteously, humbly, wisely, gently, lovingly. Nothing can separate us from this love. 

"...neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (from Romans 8: 38-39). 

Yesterday's #adventword" "shine" was a struggle when the day was cloudy and "flexibility" was a more important word than "shine." Yet, this morning, the sun broke through! 

The sun doesn't always "come up tomorrow", because life's griefs are great, but I wait in hope knowing that God's love abides.

"And now abides faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love." 

The One who shows this perfectly is Jesus. This Advent season, I prepare not for the coming of a baby (wonderful as that advent is), but rather for the coming of Jesus who chooses me and chooses to be in relationship with me, with nothing separating me from His love. While I can not show this love completely, it does not stop me from following like a child after Him: loving God and loving others, waiting in hope. 

Shine

Last night, I carried my husband's computer out of the bedroom and sat it in the kitchen. In the kitchen, it could shine off and on to its megabyte hearts' content. As for me, I need the dark at night so I can sleep well; otherwise, this woman is not going to shine during the day.

Yet, the shine of humanity is seen best, like faraway stars, in the midst of darkness. What kind of darkness? To color a dark night sky, one chooses the deepest blacks and blues. But no crayon can literally illustrate the world where we need to shine. A gifted photographer can capture hate, anger, despair, discourtesy, ungratefulness, greed, malice, loneliness, poverty, injustice, hunger -- but he or she will do so by capturing looks, body positions, the story itself. The colors and use of or absence of light will be a part of that composition, but other clues are needed. Is that dark forest tranquil or menacing? Is this a dark night of my soul or the peaceful rest I need?

The man who grumbled at me in line at the grocery store might be going home to sit in deep depression; the woman smiling as she chatters away might be intensely lonely. Sometimes where I need to shine is easily identifiable and sometimes it is not. Most often I have found out that I have been a shining light in someone's life only after the fact.

Perhaps, if a candle could think, it would actually struggle to shine if it worried about whether it was shining, how far, how often, and how bright. Truly that candle is only shining because something greater than the candle set it aflame. So, too with me, Someone greater than I, sets me aflame. However, I'm not a candle and I do have control over my wick. I don't have time to let the man go ahead of me in line. (It is the Christmas season, after all, and I have so much to do!) That woman is fine: don't worry about listening or being present to her. After all, I'm only a little candle. Let the big candles do the shining.

I experimented with candle shine and I tried to research whether a big candle lights up a room more than a small candle. It didn't seem a discernible difference to me, but before I could track down all the research, life happened. I planned out some lovely "shine" pictures as I contemplated the word shine and embark on an Advent Adventure with #adventword : morning sunrise and a first day of Advent candle lit by my youngest grandson and his great grandfather. None of that happened. We woke up to rain; I could only find a dried up wreath in the Christmas storage and then I lost the special Advent prayer we were going to pray. Isn't that what life often is like? I seek the Hallmark moments (or now the Pinterest experience) and instead we are called to shine or look for shine in the midst of rain, during days of watching a father fall further into his Alzheimer's world, with dried up wreaths and lost plans.

It's dawning on me that the shine of God, like the sun (but greater than), can be seen even in the day unless clouds (of doubt?) hide it, and the Almighty I AM shines on believer and non-believer. I also see the shine of God in the midst of community. Today is not only the first day of Advent but also my birthday. My little church prayed a blessing specifically over me during service and while I have no picture of this special time, it will be a moment that shines out in my memories. The lack of traditional ways to represent "shine" also caused me to look for other ways to show shine.

I imagine that humanity looks to many sources for shine and even though I know this is a bit humorous using a pot of coffee to show shine, basically I was looking all over the house for reflected shine. Maybe it will remind me to not fall into the ways of worldliness (consumerism, materialism, egoism) to look for shine, but to look for how God shines in places and people where and who I think might not represent shine. And, often our everyday blessings do shine if we only look for them.

I am encouraged when I read one Advent printout that lists this first day of Advent as representing "unseen hope". To the one who is searching for the shine of this day, this season, this year, I pray for you glances of shine that remind you of hope that is not fully seen yet. Just in case you can see my husband's knee, he has had surgery and full recovery is not seen yet, but we have hope, and we have this precious shiny face in our lives as well as other people and moments for which I am so thankful (and can not possibly write of without making this blog yet longer).
#adventword #shine

The Expectant Hope of Mary

When I look at most Christmas card pictures (or Christmas stamps) of Mary, I would say this is a woman who has it all together. All her hopes while growing up in Mom and Dad's household have been fulfilled.

Christmas cards tend to be scenes of perfection: perfect balance, composition, color, emotion (happy, joyful, peaceful or all three). To be sure, I wouldn't be excited to put a card up on my fireplace mantle that shows Joseph and Mary scroungy: shabby, dirty, sweaty, and unkempt from traveling to Bethlehem. Let's add in the way most of us women look after we have given birth. Like everyone else, I want beauty. I want wholeness, happiness, joy, peace, and I want it now.

This picture of The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner blesses me. Mary, a teenager, gets the shock of her life. Rather than have a greeting card wedding followed by, at an appropriate time, a Pinterest worthy baby shower and a birthing scene filled with the help of close women relatives, Mary's life has been turned upside down. Mary questions, yet she still decides: "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38).

Mary has expectant hope. The words "expectant" and "hope" are a lovely combination of words. To be expectant is to feel that something is about to happen, and to hope is to want something to happen. The definitions of both words involve "to happen." It, whatever "it" is, has not happened yet. It is in the future. Mary's expectant hope comes from knowing the Lord. This is a young woman who has spent time contemplating God's goodness. With the angel, she simply states: "I am the Lord's servant," but, later, with her cousin Elizabeth she will let her excitement flow in praise of what God is doing and going to do.

Daily life is rarely greeting card worthy, yet it is in the daily life that I get to know the goodness of my Savior and I am prepared to have expectant hope for what lies ahead.

Expectant Hope

Yesterday marked the first day of Advent 2015, a day when some light the first candle of five set within a wreath of green.

This first candle, usually purple as befitting the prophecy of a king to come, symbolizes expectant hope. 

"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). 

I often forget a major reality: Expectancy isn't filled with soft, comfortable days of waiting.

Consider the opening of Jesus' story: an angel comes to Mary, and even after greeting her and letting her know that she's highly favored and the Lord is with her, Mary is greatly troubled. Angel Gabriel has to say: "Don't be afraid." 

No wonder! We've made angels into cute little beings, or, like Henry Payne's section of painting* above, of equal stature. Bernini did a better job of capturing the immensity of angels. 

I like what is comfortable and familiar. Prophecies and hopes are exciting as long as I can wrap them up in a box with pretty wrappings and bows. But, when they don't fit inside of my small comfortable expectations, or when I have to wait, confused and unsure, then I need a reminder that the Lord also says to me as He had Gabriel say to Mary: The Lord is with you. Don't be afraid." 

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for He has said, 'I will never leave you, nor forsake you' so that we may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me'" (Hebrews 13:5,6). 

"The Lord has not given us the spirit of fear, but of strength, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). 

"Nothing...shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:39). 

* "Annunciation" detail from Peace and Goodwill 1921-1922 by Henry Payne, stained and painted glass, leaded in the Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery.

Choosing to be Intentionally Kind

In view of all the bombings last week, I am taken by these sentences by Dallas Willard in his first chapter of The Divine Conspiracy. 

"Yet, in the gloom a light glimmers and glows. We have received an invitation. We are invited to make a pilgrimage -- into the heart and life of God." 

And, I've been thinking of the words that follow up the two sentences up above: "The major problem with the invitation now is precisely overfamiliarity. Familiarity breeds unfamiliarity -- unsuspected familiarity, and then contempt" (11). 

Many of us reading these words "know" about Jesus, hear about Jesus, see the name of Jesus often, especially during the winter season. As Dallas writes, we "think [we] have heard the invitation...accepted it...or rejected it." 

But, truly "the difficulty today is to hear it at all" (ibid). What is meant by these words of Willard's? I looked up "contempt." Many would be aghast to have anyone say that they have "contempt" for Jesus. Some do live by the first definition of the word: "the feeling that a person or thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn" (computer dictionary), but we wouldn't put ourselves in that category.  

If we think that removes us from having contempt, consider the second definition: "disregard for something that should be taken into account." This is where I think those of us most "familiar" with Jesus fall into "contempt." We so think we "know" Jesus that we have disregard for something that should be taken into account, and that something is how Jesus would live our lives if he were us. When we consider His kindness, love, graciousness, intellect, patience, and more, do we really think He would get bent out of shape (for purposes of translation: angry, mean, insulted and insulting) just because the culture around us doesn't say, "Merry Christmas"? 

The meaning of the greeting above comes from a slurring (common with language) of two words: Christ's Mass. But, the meaning of "Happy Holidays" also comes from a slurring of two Christ-centered words: Holy Days. 

Frankly, I can say, "Season's Greetings" and absolutely be following Christ in that moment or I can say, "Merry Christmas" and be far, far away from the heart and life of God. 

Lest, anyone think that I have failed to keep Christ in his proper place of December (January for my Russian friends) by posting about Christmas before we have had Thanksgiving (which is only a November holiday for the U.S.), I am THANKFUL that Jesus cares more about my heart and soul attitude and actions than He does about whether I plaster His name everywhere. You know, if He were me, He might even use the money I typically spend in Christmas cards and specialty coffee drinks and instead practice intentional kindness and helping out those in need.  

9th Day? 10th Day? Failure Leads to Success

Ironically, I am posting about contemplation and wholeness just as the twelve days of Christmas move into a whirlwind of activity (ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping, and twelve drummers drumming). No wonder most of us do not try to emulate the song. For those of us who have already celebrated Christmas Day (many Orthodox Christians will not celebrate until January 7), we are ready to take down the decorations, put the tree out with the trash, and be done with the holiday craziness.

I am persevering until Monday, January 6 which I have just found out is the 12th Day of Christmas. I have been off by one day apparently this whole time. Christmas Day is…well…Christmas Day, all on its own. I should have started counting on the day after Christmas Day. Now that I know, I can improve for next year's celebrations. Growth and improvement is what I am going for this year. The word I am keeping in mind is "Practice."

Practice one day; write the next. If all goes as planned (I write those words even though I know full well that events rarely go as planned), I'm going to practice six traditions or virtues.

On Sundays, I am going to practice Contemplation, specifically contemplation with God. Contemplation without God does not tend to lead to growth and improvement for me. On Mondays, I will write on how contemplation works out (and maybe I'll even keep practicing), but I will practice Wholeness on Monday. I think of these two streams of life as more internal.

Tuesday will be for practicing an Incarnational life where the inner life mingles with the outer life, while Wednesday if for Compassionate practices, practices that include social justice. So these two days are external.

Thursday and Friday will be for the distinctly spiritual practices. All streams or traditions are spiritual to me, but that is for another day and another blog. Thursday, I practice the Spirit-empowered life, and Friday is for the Evangelical life; although, those practices may surprise some readers.  

This year's adventures await me. Failure awaits me. I practice because I have never learned something perfectly the first time I did whatever I was doing, and basically practices are an accumulation of failures that help me learn until I succeed. (Look back up at the first image. Putting it into this blog did not go smoothly. I lost count on how many times I failed, but finally the moment came when the picture was here, without 5 inches of blank space and without gobbling up three other paragraphs.) As always, I am not practicing alone. I have a Helper. I have Emmanuel, whose birth I just celebrated, whose life I celebrate every day. 

On the Sixth Day of Christmas -- A Story of Geese

I was going to give you a funny picture of six geese "a-laying"; except, it used the word "laying" incorrectly, and I just could not bring myself to use it, even in the interest of humor. Instead I am giving you a picture of two geese who were involved in the story I am about to tell. This incident happened almost a year ago, this past January.

My friend and I were prayer walking around our local lake at noon. At the end of our walk, we saw a little boy who was shorter than all of the 30 geese he was chasing! I mean CHASING these geese into the lake, not a sign of fear in his bones. My friend and I immediately looked for a parent because geese are MEAN! Then, I heard the Lord: "That little boy, shorter and weaker than all those geese has them running" and I could see that the geese were moving out of his way. His father was indeed there, although quite a ways back, back far enough that we did not see him at first. It became clear to my friend and I that obviously we have been way too scared of these geese, AND that spiritually we could rout the enemy with our Abba Father supporting us every step of the way. The prayers at the end of our prayer walk were full of His power as we acknowledged this truth.

It does occur to me that just as our loving Father knows our frame, so too we need to know our children and grandchildren. As a allegory, we can take this story and see how often we cower before the enemy when God is there all the time. We can be like this little boy, brave and strong. As for TEACHING children not to fear, I imagine that the dad took into account how his child was made. Did he need to hold his son's hand at first and show him how to move those geese along? Does he have another son who still wants to hang back and his daddy is giving the son time to grow? I'm glad our Daddy knows our frame. If He has allowed something a human would be tempted to fear to come into our lives, then we can also know that He is more than able to lead us, in Him and through Him, to victory. Together we can walk in the Spirit of love, power, and sound mind, and not in a spirit of fear.

I want to remember this story -- not the one of geese a-laying from the Christmas song, but the one where one little person, loving parent behind him (or her), can joyfully run through a gaggle of geese. The little boy carried no stick; he was not mean back at the geese. He simply was not going to allow those geese to boss him around or pick on him. I am goring to practice not letting the "blues," sadness, depressions, boredom, pride, anger, etc., push me around or pick on me.

"Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord, are a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head" (Psalm 3:2-3).

P.S. I love the beauty of geese. They can, however, be extremely assertive (and thus, scary)! 

Birds and Rings on the Fifth Day of Christmas

I could not find a picture of five of these ring-necked pheasant, but these birds were birds of royalty, typically served during a nice 12 Days of Christmas dinner. (Apologies to those who do not eat birds.) This bird is probably the gift of choice from one true love on the Fifth Day of Christmas. This should be good news for those who try to buy all the gifts from the twelve days of Christmas -- I am assuming five pheasants might cost less than five gold rings (also assuming the rings were truly gold).

A change from birds to jewelry is not the only change this song has made over the years. Some want to make it a song full of symbolism.  Snopes.com makes an excellent case that this was a French song (partridges not being introduced into Britain until after the origin of the song) that was probably part of a "memory and forfeits" game (we've played such games with the letters or with learning people's names). The first person says the first line, the second says the first and second line, the third person says the first, second, and third, and on down the line.

This makes a good deal of sense to me. I particularly like how the couple who run Snopes close their article:

Nonetheless, plenty of writers continue to expound upon "the beauty and truly biblical and spiritual meanings locked away in this wonderful song that puts Christ into Christmas where he doesn't appear to be." Perhaps those who consider this tale to be "beautiful" and "inspirational" (despite its obviously dubious truthfulness) should consider its underlying message: That one group of Jesus' followers had to hide their beliefs in order to avoid being tortured and killed by another group of Jesus' followers. Of all the aspects of Christianity to celebrate at Christmastime, that doesn't sound like a particularly good one to emphasize. 
Read more at http://www.snopes.com/holidays/christmas/music/12days.asp#4zhwlZlp1pgiOpYx.99

I really would rather think of this song as a game. I also like the idea that the five golden rings are birds. Although the Bible does sometimes mention jewels and gold is a positive light (think of Revelations 21), mankind tends to fight over it, use it as a way to entice, or to rank people.

Birds, on the other hand, do not fall to the ground without God seeing. He cares for them, and He says He cares for each of us even more than He cares for the birds (and He cares for them a lot).

Short post today. I think I'm going to go birdwatch where I feel the presence of God in a way that I don't when I sit staring at gold.

The Fourth Day of Christmas and Still Sending Out Christmas Cards

As those of you know who have endlessly sung or heard "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song throughout December, on the fourth day of Christmas, someone's true love sent her "four calling birds," except they weren't originally "calling" birds -- they were "colly" birds which means they were black birds (but not, presumably, the four and twenty baked in a pie). I liked this image because I am still sending out Christmas cards -- more on that in a moment. I want to give credit where credit is due, and the artist who drew this allows for use in blogs with a proper link, so here it is:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/four-calling-birds-j-ferwerda.html

I do not actually like to use the telephone. The advent of text messaging was a gift to me. I don't know why I don't like the phone -- maybe because I know how to start the conversation, but I've always found ending one awkward. However, I want to stay in touch with people. Facebook, with all its drawbacks, and e-mails have allowed me to reconnect with family (some of whom I have never met in person) and with friends in New Zealand, England, Thailand, and Russia to name a few.

Still, a card or a letter coming by what some of us now call "snail" mail is a delight and a treasure -- something beautiful to hold in one's hand, something to read and re-read and re-read again. I wonder how much we would know about the past if everything had gone through e-mails. Would I even have Frank Laubach's words (something I have been doing this past Advent and about which I have blogged) to ponder if he had sent them all back home via email?

One might think then that I am a great communicator. I am not. But I want to be. I try to be. I start off sending Christmas cards, squeezing in a few extra days via the twelve days of Christmas, and when I run out of Christmas days, I try to send a few more via New Year's Day. After that I hope to send out Valentine's greetings.

Why does it matter? People matter. People have been a part of my life since the day I was born, and while I can be excused for not being aware of their presence in the early years, I regret not being fully aware of the aliveness of each person in my life. Aliveness is probably not a word -- ohhh, it is, and I love it. It is an Old English word meaning "in life." I was not aware that people were in life and they were in my life!

Sandra Cisneros's book The House on Mango Street opened my eyes to thinking about people in my life and wondering where they are: Diane, Darcy, Victor, Salvador, Leslie, Cecilia…my house on Main Street; Kathy, Rachel, Joe, Elly…the big house on Westwood; Barbara, Steve, Tom…the little cabin on Pine Street (yes, I am not joking -- I did live in a little cabin) and on it goes. Some people I have reconnected with, especially those from my older years. And, so, I send cards and letters.

To say: You matter. You are important to me. You are beautiful. 

Our Joy is Daily; Our Joy is Full -- The Third Day of Christmas

Our wise men / kings / Magi travel after Christmas to symbolize that their journey happened after Jesus was born and Mary and Joseph were in some sort of housing. Sometimes there are presents on "Little Christmas" -- the grandchildren always hope so.

This one apparently has to deal with a horse…and, ahem, dust. I could write that it represents desert sands, but basically it tells the story of a woman who would rather read the books on her bookshelves than dust said shelves.

Yes, we have three. Not because we know there were three (we do not, but we know there were at least two), but because the set came with three. :D And, all of them are currently traveling past many words. Wise men throughout the centuries have traveled through many words. Only one was THE WORD.

A man wrote of the Word and his name was John. Today is the the Feast Day of John. I don't want to lead you into thinking I necessarily celebrate feast days of the saints, but I have family and friends who do. Since I have my own feast days (two as a matter of fact: Birthday and Mother's Day), I think it rather cool (no one says "cool" anymore, do they?) to celebrate John's day.

John preached a Christmas sermon; although, it's not titled that in my Bible.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men"  (John 1:1-4).

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" And of His fullness we have all received and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:14-17).

Boom! (As my granddaughter would say…I think it means "Super cool" or "There! Beat that!")

Jesus: there from the beginning, God, all things made through Him, life, light, the Word became flesh. He came as a baby, grew up, dwelt among us and John and the rest beheld His glory, full of grace and truth. Grace and truth, beautiful words; beautiful Word.

John wanted us to know how they saw Him, how they heard Him.

"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life -- the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us -- that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full" (1 John 1: 1-4).

They saw Jesus, fully human, fully God, and John writes so that our joy may be full. Our joy doesn't end on Christmas Day. Our joy is daily; our joy is full.

In the beginning of this blogging adventure, I intended to connect with Frank Laubach's letters -- sometimes that has worked out, sometimes not. But, today, I will end with comments from the twelfth of October and the twenty-second of September:

"How I wish, wish, wish that a dozen or more persons who are trying the experiment of holding God endlessly in mind would all write their experiences so that each would know what the other was finding as a result! The results, I think, would astound the world." 

"We have got to saturate ourselves with the rainbows and the sunset marvels in order to radiate them. It is as much our duty to live in the beauty of the presence of God on some mount of transfiguration until we become [bright] with Christ as it is for us to go down where they grope, and grovel, and groan and lift them to new life. After all the deepest truth is that the Christlike life is glorious, undefeatably glorious." 

No Christmas Blues Here -- The Second Day of Christmas

I wasn't going to blog today. Well, yes, I did already blog if you count my From Blog to Pin which I only started because I could not figure out how to pin my own pictures to Pinterest. So, I blogged / pinned my Gluten-free Caramel Brownie Fudge. Then, I ended up reading a blog about how the First Day of Christmas is Christmas Day, NOT the day after Thanksgiving. Some people start taking everything down on the Second Day of Christmas. I decided to embrace the twelve days of Christmas. Actually, my family usually embraces the full season of Christmas because no one ever gets all their packages mailed on time. Nonetheless…

I decided to decorate some more! The granddaughters are going to love it. I also listened to a podcast on St. Stephen's Day. For those who celebrate Feast Days, this day celebrates the first martyr of the Christian faith, which sounds rather negative for the day after Christmas!

However, it is a good reminder that Jesus did not stay a baby. He grew; He taught; He saved us through taking our place. And, people believed. People like Stephen, a man full of the faith and the Holy Spirit.

At his death, Stephen said: "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Lord, forgive them." Some of us might need to do some forgiving the day after Christmas (and, dare I write it, some of us might need to ask forgiveness). Family gatherings aside, what a great way to end the year and start the new year afresh by forgiving those who harmed us this year and by relinquishing those circumstances and situations that make us bitter and angry people. What a great way to start the new year in peace.

And, just because I need to include two pictures in this post when I share it, here is a picture of the Gluten-free Caramel Brownie Fudge. You might want to gather the family together and make some. :D

http://ddeebbiijjoo.wordpress.com/2013/12/26/gluten-free-caramel-brownie-fudge/

Empty Stable, Now Filled -- The First Day of Christmas

Mary and Joseph have finally made it to the stable. 

Happy Birthday, Jesus! 

The angel has made his announcement; the shepherds are on their way (in our case, the shepherd is).

Little is much when God is in it. 

Day 24 of Advent and I Forgot to Title This Post: Good Thing Christmas Doesn't Rely on Me to Keep it Going

The glory of Christmas, specifically the glory of Christ, is not limited to Christmas card moments.

"Hope is the Jesus gift, Love is the offering, Everywhere, Anywhere, Here on earth."

These lines came from a New Zealand Christmas carol. I'm blessed to have a friend who lives there. My friend Sue and I share warm Christmases. Mine is warm because my wintertime is typically warm with only a rare snow every twenty years or so. She has a warm Christmas because it is summer down under the equator!

"Sing a nativity summer can reach… Right side up Christmas belongs to the universe."

I don't know the tune, but I'm loving the song. Here are the full lyrics with some "warm" Christmas pictures, one of which is our Christmas tree, now inside but still "undressed." If you did not do all the decorating you wanted to do, nor all the baking, then go to the link I include at the end where you can read that Christmas is sometimes more found among the homeless than in any shopping mall or theology class.

1. Carol our Christmas, an upside down Christmas; 
The snow is not falling and trees are not bare. 
Carol the summer, and welcome the Christ Child,
Warm in our sunshine and sweetness of air.

Sing of the gold and the green and the sparkle,
Water and river and lure of the beach.
Sing in the happiness of open spaces,
Sing a nativity summer can reach!

2. Shepherds and musterers move over hillsides.
Finding not angels but sheep to be shorn;
Wise ones make journeys whatever the season.
Searching for signs of the truth to be born.

Right side up Christmas belongs to the universe,
Made in the moment a woman gives birth;
Hope is the Jesus gift, love is the offering,
Everywhere, anywhere, here on the earth.

3. Carol our Christmas, an upside down Christmas;
Snow is not falling and trees are not bare.
Carol the summer, and welcome the Christ Child,
Warm in our sunshine and sweetness of air.

And, now for that link (I know…me and links don't always work out, but you can always copy and paste it :D)

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tmatt/2013/12/telling-the-nativity-story-with-help-of-two-foster-boys/

May your celebration of the birth of our Saviour be filled with a joyous wonder of who He is and that, truly, life in Him is filled with His glory and His peace -- a peace that passes all understanding.  

P.S. Had to go back and add a title; then as December 24 comes to a close, I realized I posted this as Day 23…it has been that kind of a day; nonetheless, Christmas is coming! :D