by Christine Sine.
As American Thanksgiving, Advent and Christmas approach, our world seems more divided than ever and many families are finding it hard to gather without becoming embroiled in heated political discussions. Some have even ditched family gatherings as a result. It seems like a good time to turn to the Bible for some advice on how to do hospitality and to give thanks at this season.
Hospitality in ancient Palestine was more than a courtesy extended to friends and travellers. It was the means that villages used to determine if strangers were friends or enemies, a threat or an asset to the community. Extending hospitality by providing food, water and shelter was a way to temporarily adopt strangers into the community and hopefully convert a potential threat into a friendly alliance. Sometimes oil was poured over the head of the stranger as a sign of welcome.
It is probable that it was these customs that David referred to in Psalm 23:
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings. (Psalm 23:5)
In this verse David is probably not talking about God preparing a banquet for us to eat while our enemies sit around with empty stomaches drooling over the lavish food we are enjoying. This is a verse that speaks of the ancient practice of hospitality, an invitation to sit down and enjoy a meal with strangers and those we perceive as a threat, an encouragement to seek for understanding and reconciliation rather than division and hatred.
What is Your Response?
We live in a world of great division where there is much necessity for all of us to sit down over a meal with those we disagree with and see as a threat. As you think about this what comes to mind? What situations are you currently facing that might be defused by sitting around the table during the thanksgiving or Advent season and sharing a meal? Where have you seen God prepare a feast that has brought enemies together and overcome fears and disagreements? How could you prepare a meal “in the presence of your enemies” and offer open hospitality to those you disagree with?
In Jesus day this kind of hospitality was considered more than a commandment. It was a sacred obligation, filled with the joy of serving both others and God. Those that did not extend hospitality to orphans, widows and the homeless could be rejected. Like early monastics and Celtic Christians, Jews believed that sometimes in welcoming strangers they welcomed angels into their midst.
Jesus repeatedly demonstrated his joy in offering hospitality as he fed the crowds, sat down with tax collectors and shared a passover meal with his disciples. Even after his death he came back to share meals as a way to communicate his message of salvation and hope.
As I thought about this today, the picture that came to me was of Jesus seating and eating that last meal with Judas. Then I saw him get down and wash Judas’s feet. He must have realized that Judas was about to betray him, but he still reached out in embrace not division. I wonder if he hoped that through this gracious act of hospitality towards him Judas would change his mind.
What is Your Response?
At communion each week our priest says “All are welcome at the table” yet the welcome of God begins long before the institution of communion at the last supper. Radical hospitality is at the heart of the festive season. In fact the whole story of Christmas is about the radical hospitality of a God who comes to welcome us all home to the kingdom banquet.
Many feel surrounded by enemies in the current political climate. How do we respond in these hard times? This is not a time for complacency but for commitment, not for hate but for love, not to close doors but to open them, not for violence but for peace, not to wound but to heal, not to bring division but to inspire reconciliation.
There is no better place to learn to listen, not to the answers in our own heads but to the unsettling questions others are asking, than when sitting around the table sharing a meal. And there is no better time of year to take Jesus radical call to hospitality seriously and reach out with love not hate, seeking to build bridges not walls, to embrace compassion not conflict. Christmas is about listening to the voice of God entering our world and it is in the place of listening that change can begin for all of us.
As we move towards Thanksgiving (at least here in the U.S.) Advent and Christmas think about the people you disagree with, want to exclude or think are about to betray you. How could you reach out with radical hospitality to them at this season? Sit with your eyes closed and listen to this version of Psalm 23. What names come to mind? Perhaps it is someone like Mary, an unwed mother who could have been thrown out by her family. Or someone like the shepherds, despised by the society around them yet welcomed to the manger. Or the wise men, foreigners like immigrants, refugees and those of other religions. What are the first steps you need to make to reach out in a spirit of hospitality and reconciliation? How could you embrace the radical journey of hospitality
Closing Prayer
Lord help us to listen deeply not to the answers in our own heads but to the questions others ask. Lord help us to provide environments where others can relax, express themselves and learn to listen too. We know that listening is where change begins and we all need to change. May we learn to listen deeply and see our world transformed.
(NOTE: Today’s post is adapted from a previous 2016 post)
by Christine Sine
This year I decided to use Advent in Narnia by Heidi Haverkamp as my Advent devotional. Yesterday I took a sneak preview – and was riveted by this quote from the introduction.
Lewis by placing Christianity into another world makes it unfamiliar again. He gives us the chance to feel newfound wonder at the depth of God’s love, the power of Christ’s grace and the totality of his sacrifice, and the wonder of a world infused with the Holy Spirit.
MAKE CHRISTIANITY UNFAMILIAR AGAIN – what wonderful words to prepare us for Advent and the Christmas season. All of us need to be awakened to the wonder of Christmas and experience it as though it were the first time. What would it take to make that happen? Perhaps as I suggest in The Gift of Wonder it will mean that we need to look at the story with the wide eyed wonder of a child again.
“Learn this well: Unless you dramatically change your way of thinking and become teachable, and learn about heaven’s kingdom realm with the wide-eyed wonder of a child, you will never be able to enter in. (Matthew 18:3 The Passion Translation)
How would a child view the the story of Jesus’ birth? Would they gasp in awe at Mary’s acceptance of the calling God gives her – to conceive out of wedlock in a society that stoned unwed mothers? Would they dance for joy at Joseph’s embrace of her in spite of the stigma. Would they eagerly welcome not only Mary, Joseph and Jesus into their home but also the despised shepherds and the unacceptable foreigners? And what about that flight into Egypt? Refugees rarely travel alone. I wonder was the whole family forced to flee in fear that other children too would be killed? Or maybe just to support their family members? Would those left behind live in fear of retribution? Were their eyes open to fear as well as wonder?
These are some of the questions that are revolving in my mind today and when I shared it with my husband he said “Well that is what the Gift of Wonder is about isn’t it?
The Gift of Wonder is all about seeing from a new perspective and learning to see with the wide eyed wonder of a child, just as Lucy’s experience of Narnia is. As I comment in the introduction I felt like Narnia’s Lucy stepping through a magical doorway of awe and wonder. And it is helping me to see the whole story of Christmas with new, child-like eyes. I hope that you will join me. So I must confess that I expect to have two books open as I move through Advent this year – Advent in Narnia and The Gift of Wonder.
To help with this process I am working on a new Gift of Wonder Bonus Download that I hope will be available by the end of the week (prayers appreciated!) It has been a little delayed by my trip to Australia but that is all to the good as I spent a lot of time with babies and have watched their wide eyed wonder in all they see around them. My hope is that this will provide four practices for the season – 2 drawn from The Gift of Wonder but embellished with the ideas that I have explored in the last six months since I published it, and 2 new practices drawn from questions and ideas that have been suggested since then.
I think that we all need to make Christmas unfamiliar again and to do that we need new practices that help derail our accepted way of looking at the story. I hope that you will join me on this exciting journey and rediscover as Heidi Haverkamp suggests “the newfound wonder of God’s love”
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By Donna Chacko —
During my years working in Washington, D.C., I witnessed the most profound gratitude I had
ever seen. I worked as a doctor at Christ House, a medical recovery facility for the homeless, and I lived in the long-term apartment building associated with Christ House. The patients at Christ House, predominately men, end up there because they are too sick to survive on the streets, but not sick enough to be hospitalized. Sometimes they are admitted after discharge from the hospital, with fresh incisions, amputations, or serious medical diagnoses, but nowhere to go. Mental illness, addiction, and long-neglected medical problems are routine at Christ House.
Let me tell you about George. He had lived on the street for eight years after first losing his job, then his apartment, and finally sliding into alcoholism. After passing out on the street, he was taken to the hospital where he was found to have advanced cancer, diabetes, and mental illness. After surgery he was referred to Christ House for recovery and continued medical treatment, as well as addiction and mental health therapy. Initially, he was withdrawn and sullen.
But, gradually he responded to the love, respect, and care, and he opened up. A few weeks after his admission I started seeing George at the Christ House Church service that was held every Sunday in the dining room. It wasn’t long before he started offering aloud his prayers of gratitude—“for Christ House, for the community, for God, and for my health.” Initially I was surprised. He had suffered so much, and his health, though better, was terrible.
It wasn’t just George. Many of those men were passionately grateful. Greg, with his liver
disease, kidney failure, depression, and long history of heroin addiction, spoke tremulously of his
gratitude. Most remarkable was James, a street drunk, who had been admitted to Christ House
seventeen different times. Each time he skipped out and relapsed, until the last time —when he
stayed. I often heard his grateful story because during my time in Washington I lived in his
apartment building. He had been sober ten years and served as a volunteer and mentor for the
newcomers.
As I got to know these men, I continued to hear them speak of their blessings, their love of God, and their gratitude for their health, their recovery from addiction, their housing, and especially for “for waking up this morning.” Many expressed their gratitude by taking on
volunteer jobs in the organization.
A question nagged at me when I thought about these men and their gratitude. Was I sufficiently grateful? I had lived a life overflowing with blessings: good family, comfortable upbringing, excellent education, meaningful career, good health, and my faith. Did I offer constant thanks to God for my life and His presence in my life? And, for my salvation? Probably not enough.
Many of these patients endured indescribable suffering before coming to Christ House. Their ardent gratitude was understandable; after all, they were getting a new chance at life. But, I too had been lost and then saved by Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for my time working at Christ House because I was reminded of all I had to be grateful for and that I should not wait for recovery from a personal crisis to sing out my gratitude.
Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Psalm 106:1
Note: I changed names and details in this article to protect the privacy of those involved,
while making every effort to preserve the essence of the stories.
Dr. Donna Chacko promotes health of body, mind, and spirit through her website (serenityandhealth.com), her blog, and programs at her church. She previously practiced medicine for forty years, first as a radiation oncologist and later, after re-training, as a family medicine doctor. What she learned taking care of immigrants and the homeless in Washington, D.C., continues to influence her programs. She is a wife, mother, and grandmother and lives in University Park, Maryland.
by Christine Sine
I am writing just before I get on the plane in Sydney to head back home to Seattle. Reconnecting to family I have not seen for 3 years is extremely meaningful, reconnecting to the country in which I grew up almost as much so. This is the place that anchors my soul.
How grateful I am for two countries to call home – the land of my birth and the land in which I now live. And how grateful I am for family in Australia, and the delight of friends in the U.S. who have become like family. My life is indeed full of many blessings
However as I sit here I am aware that many do not have these blessings. Here in Australia fueled by high temperatures, hot winds and dry conditions, fires are sweeping through vast portions of land burning houses and leaving many homeowners devastated. Some have lost their lives as they try to protect their property.
And in so many parts of the world others have lost life and property not just to fires, floods and other natural disasters, but also to war, greed, and economic pressures. The number of migrants sitting at borders or in refugee camps hoping for a new home is at an unprecedented level. Others are ending up on the streets with no hope of a place to call home.
Monarch butterfly – yarn work by Naomi Lawrence
All of this flits through my mind as I admire the beautiful artwork of my friend Naomi Lawrence, a stunningly gifted yarn bomber who lives in New York and who uses her artwork to bring beauty to some of the darkest corners of Harlem. Her latest creation, a community effort that she facilitated, depicts the Monarch butterfly, a butterfly that flies thousands of miles from Mexico to Canada each year – from one home to another. She posted it on instagram with the caption “All humans have the right to migrate. All migrants have human rights.”
It was particularly impacting for me because it was installed on the day that we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the dismantling of the Berlin Wall. On the same day I read an article about how after years of steep decline the Monarch butterflies migrating this year has dramatically increased. We are not out of the woods yet but it is encouraging to see that things can change if we make an effort.
What else can we change I wonder? Can we provide homes for all the migrants and the refugees and still maintain a healthy thriving country? I think we can. Just as butterflies pollinate plants as they feed so I think migrants bring fresh ideas that enrich our culture.
After all my own family came to Australia as refugees in the early 1900s and over the last century have made a significant and very positive contribution to the country I call home.
As we look towards Christmas part of what we are reminded of is that the One we follow was a refugee. He was also a homeless person yet his enrichment of our lives and our cultures is immeasurable.
As we give thanks for our own homes at this season, how can we remember those who have no homes?
What is Your Response
Take a few minutes to examine the beautiful artwork that Naomi has created. What catches your attention? Think about the Monarch butterfly and its incredible migration from Mexico to Canada and back. Prayerfully consider what God might say to you through this story.
Now think of the migrants and refugees who inhabit our world. What about them catches your attention? In what ways could you help welcome them into your country and your community?
Now think about Jesus. Read through the story of the flight into Egypt in Matthew 2L13-18 What catches your attention? What do you think would have happened if they had not been able to flee to Egypt? Prayerfully consider this story and ask God how it impacts your understanding of refugees.
by Christine Sine
As we move towards Thanksgiving and Christmas many of us are already overwhelmed by the volume of Christmas music that is besieging our senses. Others are relishing the opportunity to listen to favorites and get themselves ready for the celebrations of the season.
One of the delights of Christmas for Tom and I is our annual trip to Benaroya Hall to listen to the Messiah. It is an experience that renews our souls and helps us focus on the true meaning of the season. We also love the lessons and carols at our church, a beautiful tradition of reading nine passages of scripture followed by nine carols. Evidently this tradition was introduced at Kings College Cambridge as their Christmas Eve service in 1918, was first broadcast in 1928 and is now listened to by millions of people around the world. This too is a refreshing, renewing and renewing. Here is the 1992 service. The more recent version 100 Years of Lessons and Carols can be listened to or purchased at many sites.
Why am I mentioning this so far in advance of Christmas you may wonder? It is partly because yesterday I read this inspiring article reminding me of the power of singing, especially of singing in choirs.
It has also been inspired by the time I have spent here in Australia with my new grand nieces and nephew. They all love to sing and be sung too. Their little legs begin to move, smiles break out on their faces and their whole bodies enter into the music and the rhythm. I am sure that in the process they are bonded to those who are singing and what is being said in the songs.
Evidently music – both singing and listening to it – releases hormones which react with the opiate receptors in the brain reducing pain and creating an analgesic like effect in our bodies. Findings also show that elderly singers suffered depression less frequently, made fewer doctor’s visits each year, needed less medication, and increased their other activities.
As Christmas approaches many of us find ourselves overwhelmed by the noise, the consumer frenzy and the cultural hype of the season. Maybe what we need to help us refocus is to find ourselves a choir to sing with! Or get out and enjoy the music that you remember from your childhood. Immerse yourself in the delight of music and the beauty of singing in a choir – something that many of us have not done since we were children.
Some of you might appreciate these resources lists that we have put together through Godspace to help
Advent/Christmas Music From a Rich Array of Traditions.
Or you might like to find a celebration of the O Antiphons – another rich and beautiful church tradition to be inspired by at this season.
If you don’t know what the O Antiphons are check out What on Earth are the O Antiphons with several videos as well as explanations that provide some information for you.
I am so grateful for Advent/Christmas music and the rich traditions that bring inspiration into its use at this season of the year. I hope that you will take time to enter into the season with some singing and rejoicing too.
by Christine Sine
As many of you know I have been in Australia for the last couple of weeks reconnecting to family and friends as well as to places I love and remember from my childhood. It has been a very special time and one that has left me feeling closer to my family, to God and to the land I love.
As I say in The Gift of Wonder, reminiscing is important for all of us.
It increases our social connectedness and sense of fulfillment in our accomplishments as positive memories rise to the surface. When we immerse ourselves in memories of our younger selves, we become healthy, our aches and pains are reduced, our weight and posture improve, our dexterity increases. Even our eyesight improves. (The Gift of Wonder 39)
What has interested me on this trip is how my reminiscing with brothers and friends has reinforced positive memories and allowed negative memories to fade into the background. As we visited the house in which I grew up, shared childhood memories and walked on the beach where I spent many happy hours swimming and playing with my brothers, my delight in my childhood has grown and become filled with joy.
As I reflect back on this time part of what I realize is that this joy has been able to grow because of past exercises in remembering and retelling my story with God at the center.
In The Gift of Wonder I explain:
Telling our stories is powerful, even when there is pain and trauma we are not sure we want to revisit and it is far more than the nostalgia effect. Reminiscing often unveils the invisible hand of a loving God who shaped and guided us to become the people we are. When we neglect these stories, they hold us prisoner to fear and pain. Retelling them is an invitation to the exhilarating adventure of an awakened and full life.
This is not the first time I have talked about the importance of remembering, in fact it is only six months since I wrote The Practice of Remembering, but it is important, I find to do this on a regular basis because each time we remember it peels away layers to the true and special times inside. And as we approach Thanksgiving in America and the seasons of Advent and Christmas it seems to me that there is no better time to reminisce – reminisce on our own life story and on the story of God as it is experienced in our lives. After all Advent is about reminiscing and remembering. It is about reminding ourselves of the story of God and the wonder of what God has done both for and in us.
This time, as I reminisced, I have found it important to reread the chapter Let Your Life Speak in The Gift of Wonder as a basis for my reflections. You might like to do the same as you prepare for the upcoming festive season.
This is what I feel I have experienced on this trip. Because of the healing I have found in the past, more healing is possible not just for me but for all my family and that healing continues to draw us closer each other and to God, and it is a healing that can then be handed on to the next generation.
So here is a little glimpse into the special moments of my reminiscing on this trip.
The photo above shows me walking barefoot on the beach where I spent many happy hours as a child. Such a special memory to relive and it reminded me too of the importance of going barefoot that I wrote about earlier this year.
Reminiscing with family also meant meeting and spending time with the newest members of the next generation – what a special time to be able to share stories of the past and create memories for the future
Meeting the next generation
I was also delighted to see flowers that I have not seen since I was a teenager – may not seem important to some of you but for those like me who love flowers this too is a special time of remembering
Waratahs in the Blue Mountains
What Is Your Response
Take some time to reminisce on your childhood. Perhaps you want to reread the section in The Gift of Wonder, or get together with family (perhaps over Thanksgiving) to do your own reminiscing.
What are the important events that come to mind?
What are the places and objects that are important.
Spend time reflecting on these. What new memories are forming for you?
By Lilly Lewin
We move towards Thanksgiving here in the States and it seems every store is already ready for Christmas. Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday and Advent is often just a nice idea. Take some time to pause this weekend and reflect on all the things you have been blessed with and all the things you have to be thankful for! From the ability to type, to walking the dog….having running water to a beautiful sunset…
READ the psalm out loud in both versions....What is God’s word for you today? What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you about? What word or phrases stand out to you as you read and listen to this psalm? What is the response God is seeking from you?
Psalm 98 NIV
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Psalm 98 The Message
Sing to God a brand-new song.
He’s made a world of wonders!
He rolled up his sleeves,
He set things right.
2 God made history with salvation,
He showed the world what he could do.
3 He remembered to love us, a bonus
To his dear family, Israel—indefatigable love.
The whole earth comes to attention.
Look—God’s work of salvation!
4 Shout your praises to God, everybody!
Let loose and sing! Strike up the band!
5 Round up an orchestra to play for God,
Add on a hundred-voice choir.
6 Feature trumpets and big trombones,
Fill the air with praises to King God.
7 Let the sea and its fish give a round of applause,
With everything living on earth joining in.
8 Let ocean breakers call out, “Encore!”
And mountains harmonize the finale—
9 A tribute to God when he comes,
When he comes to set the earth right.
He’ll straighten out the whole world,
He’ll put the world right, and everyone in it.
Take the time to journal and do these responses:
1. We are moving towards Thanksgiving and Advent…What things would you like to do in order to move closer to Jesus in the coming weeks? You might need to do less of something. You might choose to turn off media and be quiet or say no rather than yes to events, people or work. Talk to Jesus about this.
2. What image or word spoke to you in the psalm?
3. What things are making you crazy in your life or in our world right now? How would you like Jesus to put the world right and everyone in it? Tell Jesus about these things. How does this give you hope?
4. What things in nature help you connect with God or bring you hope?
5. What songs help you praise God? What other things help you praise God? Choose a song or a creative process, or walk in the woods or park to help you praise God this week. What will you choose? Go look for a new song or take time to listen to an old favorite.
6. Celtic Advent begins this weekend on November 16. ( or some say this evening at sundown) This is 40 days before Christmas. Traditional Advent begins on December 1st. Get a candle to light each evening to remind you that the Light is coming into the world!
The closing prayer from our thinplaceNASHVILLE gathering:
Lord!
Give us grace today to love as you love.
Help us to love with extravagance.
Give us hope today for ourselves and others.
Heal our hurts and our hearts today,
So we can serve and help those around us.
Help us to know that you are enough.
And help us live today and everyday in thankfulness.
For all you’ve done and for all you bless us with.
In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
Find resources for Advent Sacred Space and Christmas prayer stations here!
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