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. 

Rethinking Lent as Margin and Space

Give something up for a full forty days. With freedom in Christ, don't fast. Lent as "do something good." Back to Lent movement among Protestants. Fast Monday through Saturday and never on Sunday (Little Easters). I have tried them all.

However, inspired by a Holy Spirit desire to follow Jesus' life, not just his death; and a friend's blog November Press post "Active Space"; and Priscilla Shirer's study Breathe, I am rethinking Lent as Margin and Space.

Thankfully, this blog site makes it easy for me to have margins and space in my writing. It's not quite so easy in daily life. I've already wanted to fill up my Lent space by joining an online group who are SLOWING DOWN for Lent (good one!) and follow Pope Francis's idea to fast from indifference, to name just two. No matter what your leanings are denominationally, these are practices worth following, and I hope I will slow down and fast from indifference during my days of Lent, but I also hope those practices will continue in my life beyond forty days.

In her book Breathe (based on a presentation she gave at a women's conference), Shirer uses her research of Genesis 1 to show that God was not tired out and done creating on the seventh day of creation. He was creating; He was creating tranquility, serenity, and peace. He gifted the Israelites with shabbat -- "to cease" -- in order to teach them how to put away a slave mentality. Slaves live fearfully, with a worldview of scarcity, with little joy, creativity, or margin in their days. 

I so appreciate what my friend Avo writes in "Active Space."

"In design, negative space (basically parts of a work where nothing is happening), when used well is called active space. Active because it contributes in a positive and an indispensable way to the overall work. Think of the space in-between letters or words or lines of type. How would your reading experience be without them? Sometimes it’s the space around a logo, the large white space around a single line of copy, that activates the logo or adds the communicative impact to a sentence and contributes to the results for which the designed piece was intended."

The margin and space I am creating during this time of Lent is adding and enhancing the times of my life that are filled. One of those areas I'll be creating freedom in is social media. It's not because I don't love my friends and family. I still like the idea of Sundays being "Little Easter" -- a time when we celebrate -- so I'll check in to celebrate with or pray for those with whom I communicate through the gift of technology. But, giving up that little bit (okay, sometimes a great deal) of time will give me the freedom to create -- either in creating sentences on paper or in creating opportunities for serenity. It will give me time for relationships: with my well and alive Jesus, with others that God brings into my life during this time. 

If you want to join in and compare notes, I'll be writing along the way. I know how many good opportunities there are and how many much better blogs there are to read so my feelings aren't hurt if you never read another post this season. Nonetheless, I hope I have encouraged you this day to experience some breathing room in the active space of the margins of your life in order to break free of a slave mentality. Shalom. 

What's IS That Noise?

What is that racket, that commotion, that noise, I hear?

A) the running commentary and video in my head
B) traffic, Internet video clips, radio, podcasts, phone beeps
C) slogans and messages on billboards, clothing, bumper stickers, and everywhere else
D) All of the above

If you're like me, the answer is 'D' -- all of the above. When I lose my keys, the Internet is down at work, the latest text message carries with it a downturn in a friend or family member's health, and social media is broadcasting the latest in who is angry at whom, I feel like the momma elephant in the children's book Five Minutes Peace by Jill Murphy.

"The children were having breakfast. This was not a pleasant sight."

Murphy has this one right. I'm in the middle of reading a book Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo. It's a non-fiction story about life in a Mumbai undercity. Children are not having breakfast there, but they're not really considered the poor in India which makes me wonder how desperate do you have to be to be poor in India. In the meantime, down the street, folks are upset because a major coffeehouse has changed the design of their cups.

The children of the world are having (or not having) breakfast, and it is not a pleasant sight.

During all this morning hour, as in Murphy's book, everyone is vying for momma's or our attention: Look at me! Look at me! Look at me! Then, Can I? Can I? Can I? And, I'll add during this season: Buy me...Buy me...Buy me...

Dallas Willard writes: "We are immersed in birth-to-death and wall-to-wall 'noise' -- silent and not so silent" (The Divine Conspiracy 9). It's not just the morning hour, 24/7 we are "smothered in slogans" (ibid) and facing our own video thoughts.

All the momma wants in this children's book is five minutes of peace, and along with slowing down, five minutes of silence filled with peace helps me and others bring "truth, goodness, strength, and beauty into our lives" (Willard 10). Five minutes of stillness with God cuts through my first instinct to blame someone for "accidentally" picking up my keys (when I simply put them in a different place), cuts through the panic of how will I get my job done, cuts through the despair, cuts through sheer nonsense. God comes alongside and I stop scapegoating (blaming others), and I gain creativity and hope and wisdom. I can lift up my eyes and see someone else at the breakfast table other than myself. That will be the subject of a different post, but for now, for those who might be scared about 5 minutes with God, I leave you with this: God likes you; He loves you. He's like Mr. Rogers except hundreds upon hundreds times better.

Joining me on this journey of practice? Slowing down and 5 minutes of stillness with God.
Joining me reading? Pages 9 - 13 of The Divine Conspiracy. 

In the Midst of Circumstances, Chaos, Confusion, Conflict, Comes Christmas -- Day 23 of Advent

Mary and Joseph are almost there. The fireplace is in sight. There's still the little matter of getting up to the mantle; nonetheless, that baby is coming. Christmas is coming. I can either keep my eyes on Christ and joyfully adore Him or let my eyes sink into the sin and sadness that surrounds me. I am not a Pollyanna…well, maybe I would like to be. We think of Pollyannas as people who only see good; therefore, these people are no help with the injustices in the world. That is a false picture of Pollyanna. A grouchy grinchy old man was clearly mean, but in the perseverance of Pollyanna's love, he softened. Seems like I remember a conflict in town. Thinking good of people did not stop Pollyanna from coming up with beneficial ideas in the midst of conflict.

I did not think I would be returning to Frank Laubach's letters (such a journey I thought I would take connecting his letters with each day of Advent!), but I find in his October 12 letter an illustration of how drawing close to God did not leave Laubach helpless to face the world: "And to think that less than a year ago we were writing about 'the most difficult place under the American flag, if not in the world!' [Lanao]….Worries have faded away like ugly clouds, and my soul rests in the sunshine of perpetual peace. I can lie down anywhere in this universe, bathed around by my own Father's Spirit. The very universe has come to seem so homey! I know only a little more about it than before, but that little is all! It is vibrant with the electric ecstasy of God!"

Laubach learned of great joy under pressure of great trial. Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" often shows us at Christmas concerts and services.  Henry Van Dyke wrote words for it that many know under the title of Hymn 89 -- "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee." We sang it this past Sunday, and I promptly wrote myself a note to include it in the blog because the hymn includes angels and God of glory. Singing it caused me to feel at peace.

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee, 
God of glory, Lord of love; 
Hearts unfold like flowers before thee, 
Opening to the sun above. 
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; 
Drive the dark of doubt away. 
Giver of immortal gladness, 
Fill us with the light of day.

That's what God's glory brings to me: a melting of clouds of sin and sadness.

All thy works with joy surround thee, 
Earth and heaven reflect they rays, 
Stars and angels sing around thee, 
Center of unbroken praise. 

Field and forest, vale and mountain, 
Flowery meadow, flashing sea, 
Chanting bird and flowing fountain 
Call us to rejoice in thee. 

Thou art giving and forgiving, 
Ever blessing, ever blest, 
Well-spring of the joy of living, 
Ocean depth of happy rest! 
Thou our Father, Christ our brother, 
All who live in love are thine; 
Teach us how to love each other, 
Lift us to the joy divine. 

Yes. As I am taught how to love, I will have peace brought by Christ, remembered every Christmas, in the midst of circumstance, chaos, confusion and conflict. 

A Host of Angels -- Day 22 of Advent

We finally come to the final Sunday in Advent. The last candle, the Angels' Candle (not always called this, but many do), is lit. I have read that it represents "peace" even though I also read that one or more of the previous candles represented peace. As I travel through this Advent season, I am getting a feel for how I am drawn in at each stage of Advent. I can see where this candle would be the Angels candle, the peace candle, and also, the glory candle…not that I read of anyone calling it the glory candle.

Along with the shepherds we have angels. Actually, come to think of it, angels have figured in quite a bit: an angel spoke to Zacharias (John the Baptist's dad, Elisabeth's husband, Mary's cousin), to Mary, to Joseph, to the shepherds, and to Joseph again, so I think an angel candle is fitting.

But, I don't think any of the angels looked like this angel, even though I think this card which our family received this year is beautiful.

Nor do I think any looked like this angel on a card we received last year. People were extremely afraid when they saw an angel or an army of angels. The shepherds were "sore afraid." The angel greeting them said,"Fear not." Angels are always saying, "Fear not." There must be a reason why they say, "Fear not." So, it is rather strange to me that the angel candle is associated with peace. Yet, peace is what the angels spoke over the shepherds as the heavenly host praised God.

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men" (Luke 2:14).

God's intentions have always included peace on earth, good will toward men. It is our own power struggles and greed that causes a lack of peace. We want what we want and when we don't get what we want, we fight for it. Jesus came to show a better way, a way of life and truth and grace.

"And the Word was made 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 1:14).

"Sing, choirs of angels, Sing in exultation, Sing, all ye citizens of heaven above;
Glory to God in the highest; O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord."