by Carol Dixon
I’m sure many of us remember the famous rhyme (attributed to John Milton who included it in a longer Latin poem) ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot; I know of no reason why Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot’ that we recited on 5 November. I sometimes struggle with the idea of burning the guy on top of the bonfire – a representation of Guy Fawkes who, with others in 1605 attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London in an effort to end the persecution of Roman Catholics by the English government. Some of my Catholic friends find it distasteful for us still to celebrate the event but if I think of it in terms of a terrorist plot to destroy our democracy then I can see why we need to remember. Building a bonfire and settling off fireworks is great fun for children. I remember from my youth the wonder of drawing patterns with sparklers, the scariness of bangers, the excitement of Catherine wheels (even though I didn’t like dwelling on the story behind them of St Catherine’s martyrdom) and the wonderful whoosh of rockets. This next poem sums up the fun-filled spirit of bonfire night.
POEM: Bonfire Night by Shadow Hamilton
Sky lightening up
flares and flashes
arching high above
Pretty sparklers in
kids gloved hands
waving circling
Loud bangs from rockets
as they explode showering
multi bands of colour
Catherine wheels
spinning round
a visual delight
Guy on top of bonfire
soon is well ablaze
warming cold hands
Display now done
kids head for bed
to dream of it again
© Shadow Hamilton | https://www.poetrysoup.com
Posted 2013
I was surprised to discover there was a hymn about fireworks. Here’s Ian Fraser’s hymn likening the Holy Spirit to fireworks:
HYMN Like fireworks in the night (Tune: St John Havergal – the lord of heaven confess) https://youtu.be/xpLKwnZBSOw?feature=shared (words below)
1 Like fireworks in the night
the Holy Spirit came;
disciple’s fears took flight
when touched by fronds of flame:
and suddenly the world was young
as hope embraced a Saviour’s claim.
2 For Jesus bade them dare
to venture, as they should;
his love taught them to share
their homes, possessions, food:
the mind of Jesus gave them speech
all tribes and peoples understood.
3 Thus God our spirits lifts fresh daring to inspire
as common folk get gifts
to change the world entire:
the tongues of flame at Pentecost
ran through the world like forest fire.
A Bonfire Night Prayer: Lord of Light, your beauty illuminates the darkness of our world. May the celebration of temporary fleeting moments in our lives remind us of the radiance of your love for us in your son Jesus through the exhilarating power of the Holy Spirit.
photo by: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦, Unsplash
We are now in the third week of traditional Advent and the 5th of Celtic Advent, both of which in my mind, focus on peace, not the peace that is created through war and suppression of those that look, think or worship differently from us, but the peace that comes through nonviolence, love and justice for all, a peace we all long for in today’s world of upheaval and violence.
All week I have been meditating on this form of peace and what it meant for Mary and Elizabeth and now means for us. In her wonderful book The First Advent in Palestine, Kelley Nikondeha, talks about Mary and Elizabeth “gestating God’s peace”, which reversed the unjust order. Speaking of Mary singing the Magnificat, she says: Mary sings out a new social order that upends the status quo as advent begins to turn tables on those who benefit from the injustice of empires and their economies – long before her own son would himself overturn tables, enacting protest in the temple…. Together, Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of advent, shaped the infrastructure of peace. Their bodies, metaphors within the songs they sang, spoke about newness God was birthing into the world.” (68,69).
God is birthing newness, not just in the birth of Christ but in the birth of all of us who long for and act for peace. In the Mennonite service we attend, before the passing of the peace we light a peace lamp and say “we long for a just peace, we pray for a just peace, we choose to live for a just peace.” It is a challenging saying and one that I struggle with daily as I contemplate what more I should be doing to work towards a just peace. It’s hard for me as I bake my Christmas shortbread, and other Christmas goodies to really take it in. How do you live out God’s just peace in your life and what new commitments might God be asking of you this Advent?
Those of you who visit godspacelight.com have probably realized that my transition to substack is now complete and I am not longer posting my Meditation Monday on the blog. I encourage those of you who are reading this on godspacelight.com to join me on substack and subscribe to my feed. At this point I post 3 times a week and most of it is free to access. The website is still active as many like to access the resource lists we provide. However we are still struggling to re-establish the links that were broken in our site crash six months ago. It is a never ending task as every blog post in which I have referenced other blog posts, which I often do especially in our resource lists, has broken links in it. As a general rule – when you come across a broken link like this https://godspacelight.com/
Lilly Lewin and other members of the godspacelight writing community will continue to post their Advent reflections until the end of the year. Several have already joined me on substack and I am encouraging others to do the same.
Having said all that, godspacelight has been quite active this week. Lilly Lewin is in England again and not posting, however my husband Tom Sine posted a short Christmas letter, and Carol Dixon in Rememberings posted a beautiful couple of poems looking back at All Saints Day.
I appreciate the feedback I am getting on Celtic Advent Following An Unfamiliar Path, and am overwhelmed by how enthusiastic people are about the book. Several people have told me that as they have only just discovered it, they plan to use it during the season of Epiphany instead. I think it would make a great book for other seasons of the year. You just need to ignore the dates! And please leave a review on Amazon, it is that which will help people continue to find it.
Here are a few posts that you might find useful as we head toward the third week of Advent.
An Advent Prayer by Walter Brueggemann;
An Advent Prayer by Jan Richardson
Waiting – Advent poems by Jeannie Kendall – Download
An Advent Poem by Mary Oliver;
Advent Oratorio by Paul Spicer and N.T. Wright
In closing let me share one of my favourite Advent prayers that I wrote several years ago
Make room,
Let Christ be born,
In the quiet and innermost spaces
Of your heart.
Make room.
Let Christ be born,
In the streets and in the rubble,
In the famines and the plagues,
And in the wars.
Make room.
Let Christ be born,
Not far away in distant ages,
But in every heart and place,
Where love and faith are found.
Make room.
Let Christ be born,
And find in us his Bethlehem.
Christine Sine
As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links above.
by Carol Dixon
The hymn that best describes All Saints’ Day hymn and invites us to remember the Saints who have gone before us is one I first learned at school. Originally it had 11 verses but now we mainly sing five.
HYMN For all the saints who from their labours rest https://youtu.be/hCx-8G3rUS8?feature=shared (words below)
For all the saints, who from their labours rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O may thy servants, faithful, true and bold,
Strive as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
we feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
all are one in thee, for all are thine.1
Alleluia, Alleluia!
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
and singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:2
Alleluia, Alleluia!
POEM – ALL SAINTS by Margot Krebs Neale
Poem and Image by Margot Krebs Neale from ‘Sounding the Seasons’ Used with permission
Though Satan breaks our dark glass into shards
Each shard still shines with Christ’s reflected light,
It glances from the eyes, kindles the words
Of all his unknown saints. The dark is bright
With quiet lives and steady lights undimmed,
The witness of the ones we shunned and shamed.
Plain in our sight and far beyond our seeing
He weaves them with us in the web of being
They stand beside us even as we grieve,
The lone and left behind whom no one claimed,
Unnumbered multitudes, he lifts above
The shadow of the gibbet and the grave,
To triumph where all saints are known and named;
The gathered glories of His wounded love.
Good morning dear friends,
I join Christine in wishing you not only a festive Christmas but also a New Year filled with creative possibilities that reflect the compassion of Christ in our lives, churches, and communities as we race into increasingly turbulent tomorrows.
As Christmas rapidly approaches, Christine and I are celebrating 32 years together in Mustard Seed House.
While Christine has maintained contact with you I have not been as vigilant and I do apologize. I would very much value re-establishing contact again and will send you regular reports on these rapidly changing times and the innovative ways people of serious faith can respond.
As you know Christine is very active in leading her creative sites. I am also still actively researching the new opportunities and challenges we are likely to encounter in the 2030s and 2040s. I also very much want to stay in touch with friends old and new who are interested in creating innovative responses to tomorrow’s rapidly approaching challenges and opportunities.
This is such an urgent issue because climate change is moving much more rapidly than leaders in western societies are prepared for.
My latest book is titled 2020s Foresight: Three Vital Practices for Thriving in a Decade of Accelerating Change. I wrote it with my friend Dwight J. Friesen and would be glad to let you see a copy.
I am currently working on a book to enable people of faith to not only anticipate the coming challenges but to find innovative ways to respond that reflect the ways of Jesus. Let me know if you are interested and I will put you on my mailing list. In it I will update you with new opportunities and challenges that could impact your communities’ and churches’ rapidly changing futures.
I am very much looking forward to connecting with friends old and new as we race into these turbulent times.
Dr. Tom Sine
510 N 81st
Seattle, WA 98115
206-524-2111
by Carol Dixon
The first part of November in the UK seems to be all about ‘Rememberings’. On 1 November we remember the Saints, then we ‘remember, remember the 5th of November’, and the following week we commemorate Remembrance Day on 11 November and I thought it would be interesting to explore these dates in poetry and hymns/songs beginning with my poem ‘Remembering’, sparked by something my mother said to us when we were children.
Remembering
When I was young
Watching relentless rain
Pouring down outside
The window pane
Wondering when it would end
My brother and I would then
Say ‘Let’s play raindrop races’.
Our faces glued to the glass
We’d follow our chosen drops
As they slid down the window
In slithering stops
To see who had won
And who had lost.
Then, ‘I’m bored’ we’d cry.
Said mother (with a sigh)
‘November is for writing poems’
And we’d try – some
Were better than others.
My brother’s still a poet.
As am I.
A more classical approach to November is encapsulated in John Clare’s poem:
November by John Clare
Sybil of months, and worshipper of winds,
I love thee, rude and boisterous as thou art;
And scraps of joy my wandering ever finds
Mid thy uproarious madness—when the start
Of sudden tempests stirs the forest leaves
Into hoarse fury, till the shower set free
Stills the huge swells. Then ebb the mighty heaves,
That sway the forest like a troubled sea.
I love thy wizard noise, and rave in turn
Half-vacant thoughts and rhymes of careless form;
Then hide me from the shower, a short sojourn,
Neath ivied oak; and mutter to the storm,
Wishing its melody belonged to me,
That I might breathe a living song to thee.
Over the weekend we, like many others, decorated our Christmas tree and. I always love inhaling the aroma of pine leaves as we decorate, and the memories that the decorations evoke. Evidently there are approximately 25-30 million live Christmas Trees sold in the U.S. every year. There are close to 350 million currently growing on Christmas tree farms in the U.S. alone, all planted by farmers. North American real Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states and Canada. One way to plant trees for climate action I suppose.
As those who follow me on Facebook know I also decorated the jade plant that sits by my dining room window. Most people preferred this unconventional offering, some thought that it was very much in keeping with my unconventional approach to the season and in fact to the whole journey of faith that I am on. I also finished another knitting project this weekend so pulled out my image of Mary knitting when the angel Gabriel arrives to reflect on. I wrote about this a few years ago in Meditation Monday – The Unexpected Symbols of Advent. Yes I am definitely drawn to the unconventional, a true liturgical rebel my friends tell me.
We are now well into our Advent journey and Christmas is only three weeks away. If you are following along with Celtic Advent you are halfway to Bethlehem and probably like all good travellers negotiating the rough terrain that this journey takes us through, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, then Giving Tuesday. I always feel that having Giving Tuesday at the end of this shopping frenzy is an indication of where we place our commitment to supporting the work of God’s people, at the bottom of the list, getting whatever is left over. Of course this might just be my natural cynicism. I hope you are giving generously to your favourite charities and that they didn’t just get the leftovers. I like to support a range – from those that work locally to those that are globally focused, from those that fight for justice for the marginalized, to those who are concerned about sustainability and climate change and to those who nourish me spiritually.
This week we focus on hope, something that is not always easy to find and that needs to be intentionally sought and held onto. My Meditation Monday – Through Broken Glass was a reflection on how the light of Christ shines through us no matter how broken we feel, just as it does through broken glass. In fact the brokenness often makes the light look more beautiful. The poem/prayer at the end is one that Carol Dixon wrote as her response to my reflection. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
On Friday in response to Black Friday’s barragement I decided to give away a set of my prayer cards to all my subscribers. You can still download these from Friday’s post and as I mention in the post, I really would love to your feedback on the prayers as I hope to make more such sets next year. This is the first of such gifts to you this Advent season, though I am sorry but the rest of the gifts from now until Christmas will be for paying subscribers only.
Lilly Lewin in Freerange Friday – Practicing Hope For Advent shared a more conventional approach, focusing on hope and the scriptures for the first Sunday of Advent. However the practices she suggests are far from conventional. I love her practical and creative suggestions for us to try this week and found them very helpful.
On Wednesday my husband Tom wrote a short note about our dear friend Tony Campolo who passed last week. Tony’s life and ministry had a huge impact on us and many thousands of others. It was always fun to be together with him not just sharing ministry but also life and laughter.
I am embarrassed to say that because I was so keen to get you ready for the rest of Advent last week that I forgot the mention our last episode of Liturgical Rebels for the year, A Year In Review with Forrest Inslee. It has been a good year and I feel Liturgical Rebels is off to a good start. Forrest and I reflect back on the year that is past and look ahead to some possibilities for next year. Looking back there are several episodes that you might like to listen to again during this Advent season. Iconographer Kelly Latimore whose powerful image Christ Under the Rubble caught our attention last year during Advent is one I highly recommend. Other artists whose Advent images have really impacted me powerfully are Scott Erickson and Kreg Yingst whose new book Everything Could Be A Prayer has been one of my inspirations for this season.
I know that a number of you enjoyed the liturgy for the 1st week of Advent I published last week. Here is a link to this week’s liturgy or this one by Welsh poet John Birch.
My life is broken
By pain, by disability,
Sharp shards which
Pierce my daily existence
And make me feel
Fragmented and useless.
Take the broken pieces
Of my life, Lord and
Form them together
Into a stained glass
Window of your love.
Shine your light on
My brokenness until
I glow with joy and hope
Of a new beginning
With You.
~Carol Dixon Dec. 2024
Many blessings on you this Advent season
Christine Sine
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WEEK one of Advent begins with the candle of HOPE and the passage from Isaiah 64.
The Word HOPE is TIKVAH in Hebrew. What if we viewed HOPE like a cord or a rope that binds us to God?
“We typically think of hope as a feeling that something desirable is likely to happen. Unlike a wish or longing, hope implies expectation of obtaining what is desired. In Hebrew, hope is the word tikvah (teek-VAH). Strong’s defines it as a cord, expectation, and hope. It comes from the Hebrew root kavah meaning to bind together, collect; to expect: – tarry, wait (for, on, upon). While hope in English is abstract, hope in Hebrew provides a strong visual. A bound cord, rope, or thread cannot only be seen with the eyes, but it is something one can grasp hold of with their hands. In other words, hope is something real enough that we can cling to it. Hope is not something out of our reach.“ Kisha Gallagher (more on this from Kisha)
How is this definition of HOPE and encouragement to you today? How do you need to hold on to the cord of HOPE today?
READ Isaiah 64 and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you today… what is the image or phrase that speaks to you?
Isaiah 64:1-9 (NIV)
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains would tremble before you!
As when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to make your name known to your enemies and cause the nations to quake before you! For when you did awesome things that we did not expect, you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.
Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.
You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against them, you were angry. How then can we be saved?
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
No one calls on your name or strives to lay hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have given us over to our sins.
Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, Lord; do not remember our sins forever. Oh, look on us, we pray, for we are all your people.
READ the Isaiah passage again in OTHER TRANSLATIONS HERE:
Spend some time reflecting on this passage. What image does the Holy Spirit highlight for you? What do you notice? What is God speaking to you about through Isaiah 64?
CLAY
Here are few practices to try as part of your advent reflections on Isaiah 64. You can do these on your own, around your table as a family or with housemates, or even on a Zoom gathering with your church community. Everyone will just need advance warning about the supplies needed to pray with for your time together.
You will need these supplies to pray with :
A leaf from your yard or garden. Some play dough or clay. A rag or paper towel. A piece of yarn or cord.
Here is a homemade playdough recipe to make and you don’t have to have cream of tarter, it just makes the clay last longer!
PRAYER OF CONFESSION WITH YOUR CLOTH/RAG or Paper Towel.
Hold your cloth/rag/towel in your hand. What “filthy rags” have been getting in your way lately? Old stuff, junk, fears, habits? Hold on to a cloth, rag, or paper towel and give them to Jesus. Allow Jesus to clean up the stuff and forgive you today. As you use paper towels, rags, etc., be reminded that Jesus wants to take away the filthy stuff that is getting in the way of your relationship with him.
RAG
PRAYING WITH A LEAF.
“We are all like fallen leaves, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.”
Have everyone hold on to their leaf. Look at the Leaf…
Consider the color, texture of the leaf. How are you feeling like that leaf today? Talk to Jesus about this.
Consider how you/they have been blown about lately by the cares of the world.
Talk to Jesus about how you are feeling today.
What do you know to be true about leaves? What are the positives of leaves? Ask Jesus to reveal to you the message of the leaf for you this Advent Season.
Give Jesus your cares, concerns to carry for you.
LEAVES
ADVENT DEVOTION/PRACTICE with Clay
“We are the clay you are our potter, we are all the work of your hand” Isaiah 64:8
Play with your clay.
Mold it, feel it in your hands.
How is God molding you in this season? In this time of Covid-19?
How does God want to mold you? Perhaps God wants to mold you more into the image of God? What would that look like?
How have you felt God’s hand at work in your life?
As you play with your clay, ask Jesus/God to show you what God is molding in your life right now.
Take time to listen.
Create a symbol or a clay figure of a person to represent you. Add this to your clay to your Advent wreath/ centerpiece. Know that God will continue to hold you in God’s hand this Advent season.
Know the Jesus is continuing to mold you into his image.
Spend some time thanking Jesus for how you are made and for his love.
CLAY
THE CORD OF HOPE
Hold a piece of yarn, cord or rope in your hand. Consider the definition of HOPE at the top of the page. The word Tikvah (Hebrew for Hope) is first found in Joshua 2 in Rahab’s red cord that saves her life and the lives of her family members from destruction in the battle of Jericho. The cord of salvation and the cord of hope! What does your cord of hope need to be like this Advent season? Are you connecting to the hope of Jesus? Maybe, like me, you need to be reminded that Jesus showed the ultimate connection to us by coming to earth as a baby. Jesus wants us to hold on to the cord of HOPE and know that he is with us even in the mess of our lives and our world! Tie the cord around your wrist as a reminder or use it as a bookmark or put it somewhere you will see often each day to help you remember!
ADVENT CENTERPIECE
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