“Here we come a-wassailing among the leaves so green;
Here we come a-wand’ring, so fair to be seen.”
Yes, this is the beginning of a familiar Christmas and New Year’s carol. While it might seem that I am writing out of season, I am actually not. The season of wassailing is still very much with those of us who live in the northern hemisphere.
The text and tradition behind this English carol, like many traditions in the British Isles, is an adaptation by the culture of a much older Celtic tradition. From the Old English language (Norse) wassail literally means “be whole” or “be in good health.” In former times, most notably in Cornwall and Wales, wassailing was a ceremony to give thanks for and to bless apple tree orchards.
In her book, Kindling the Celtic Spirit, Mara Freeman, writes,
“A wassail (punch) bowl was made from warm spiced ale or cider with roasted apples floating in it. Farmers took the bowl into the orchards and sang a toast to each tree. After drinking from the bowl, themselves, the rest was shared with the trees by pouring its contents over the tree’s roots. Wassailing was done to ensure a plentiful crop of the apples the following autumn.”
In the seventeenth century, during the Christmas season, the wassail bowl was carried with caroling not to the orchards but to the gates and doors of the gentry. After wassailing the inhabitants, the carolers were rewarded with a gratuity. Hence this verse from the current carol,
“God bless the master of this house/Likewise the mistress too,
And all the little children/That round the table go.”
As a lover of both Celtic and natural farming practices, I find it charming to have recently learned about the continuation of the custom of wassailing trees. It is still practiced today in some places. As I learned in an email from a friend of a friend,
“The blessing of the trees that bear fruits for humans, is a welcoming back of the trees for another season. Inherent in this welcoming back is the timing, just after the Winter Solstice and just before the growing season kicks into high gear. Generally, this ceremony is held between December 22 and February 1. This practice has taken place for hundreds of years (if not longer) and continues across the UK to this day.”
Here is a short video of a wassail song used at the Alexandra Food Forest near Glascow, Scotland. The local community gathers every year to hold this ceremony. This video was made during pandemic times as gatherings were not allowed. It functioned as an open invitation for individuals to continue the tradition on their own in this particular place.
Because my adult children are farmers, I suggested that we might hold such a welcoming ritual on the family farm. And interestingly, the lead farmer the very next day had received a message from a well-known seed company in Maine with the same invitation,
“For thousands of years, orchardists have been gathering on a deep dark January night to sing and dance, drink cider, and welcome in the New Year. Musicians play and we sing old wassail songs and chant to the trees. We pour cider on the roots. The wassail celebration is about getting together to express joy and thanks for making it through another year. We honor each other and honor the plants—particularly the apple trees—that sustain us. We exhort the trees to fend off disease and insects and drought and flood and whatever else comes their way. We express our excitement and anticipation to get back into the gardens and orchard, come spring.”
–Fedco website
In the Episcopal Church we bless humans at birth, baptism, marriage, times of illness and dying. We bless bread and wine, setting it aside as “holy gifts for holy people.” We bless objects for ritual use, homes, pets and animals. On Rogation Days, (I will write about that come spring) we bless church yards and gardens. It has been said that the church exists to be a community of blessing.
One of the most delightful aspects of the Celtic Christian tradition is to learn how they expanded the church’s blessings and covered the day and all of their activities with their own blessings and prayers. You can find many of these prayers that were part of the oral tradition of the Hebrides and Western Scotland, collected by Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) in the Carmina Gadelica. John Phillip Newell notes that the most striking characteristic of Celtic spirituality is that these prayers are a celebration of the goodness of creation. (Listening for the Heartbeat of God, p. 41)
I was not raised with the notion that God could be experienced in and through creation. It has been a joyful journey to begin acknowledging and celebrating that creation is sacred. And with that comes my deep and abiding gratitude that other faith and “secular” communities, both ancient and contemporary, have and continue to join together to give thanks for the Earth and to bless creation.
Anytime we stop and give thanks for the good Earth that God has given us to steward, we expand our human capacity to love and serve God, one another, creation and ourselves. In these times of global climate change perhaps we are being called to partner with the Earth. We do this of course in our actions of being mindful in how we treat this “fragile Earth, our island home.” (Book of Common Prayer) But maybe we also make a difference to the Earth and to our own well-being through our prayers and thanksgivings for her goodness to us.
Next weekend, I will join my family and the farmers to join in a wassailing ritual at their ashram. It will follow the ancient custom of gathering with intention, making some noise with drums and sticks to ward off calamity and to move energy. We will sing to the trees and the children will help to pour cider on the tree’s roots. We will bless the trees and the land and be a blessing to one another even as we know we are blessed by God.
Perhaps you can create your own rituals of blessings for your gardens or for your favorite spots in creation. Perhaps you can write your own prayers and remember to give thanks for the Good Earth in all times and places. Or, feel free to use mine.
Eternal Spirit, Earth-maker,
we thank you for the beauty of trees,
for the joy of their fragrant flowers
and the many fruits they bear and share with us.
Eternal Spirit, Pain-bearer,
we pray for the healing
of the many parts of our beloved Earth
that carry wounds caused by human hands.
Eternal Spirit, Life-giver,
we bless you for the rhythms of the Earth
for the changing seasons and tides,
for the light of day and the stillness of night.
We bless you for the love you show us.
Help us to return that love to you
and all of your creation.
Amen. (EHB+)
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It’s time to sign up for our upcoming retreat Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World. Christine Sine will facilitate an exploration of practices that enable us to become “all ears” and listen in all circumstances to the voice of God. This session will be full of helpful input, discussion and creativity. Come join us and learn to listen more deeply to the voice of God.
Sign up for all three upcoming retreats at a considerable discount.
It’s my birthday week. What do you mean birthday week? Most of us only celebrate for a day. However as I get older I realize more and more how much I have to celebrate and I want to make the most of it. 73 may not seem like a big milestone, but it is a milestone, an opportunity to look back and see what God has done in my life in the last year. It is also a chance to look forward with hope and expectation.
I love that my birthday falls in January, my month of discernment, because birthdays are a great time to evaluate our lives and rejoice in the presence of God within us. Even if you don’t have a birthday this month, I hope that you will join me for your own time of discernment. Don’t forget our upcoming retreat Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World is only a couple of weeks away. Don’t forget you can also sign up for all upcoming spring retreats at a considerable discount.
So what am I discerning as I enter my 74th year?
First I rejoice in reaching another milestone. I am very aware that half the world’s population will never reach this age. Disease, poverty, violence, discrimination and climate change take their toll every year. I am also aware that many of my friends and family live with chronic pain and disability, some hovering on the brink of eternity. I am the most fortunate of people and thank God for the privileges of my life.
Second, I rejoice in the creative energy God continues to pour into my life. I am frequently astounded by it. Who would have thought that at 73 I would be launching a new podcast and writing poetry and books?
Third, I rejoice in the lessons I continue to learn about God. My relationship with the Holy One is growing and blossoming. I am awed by the wonder of who God is and the revelations that keep pouring into my life.
Fourth I rejoice in the relationships surrounding me. The love of a husband that grows as we both age, the love of friends more special each year and the joy of getting to know so many through the virtual world of blogs, social media and newsletters. Thank you for helping to make my life so rich.
So this week I will enter into the wonderful celebrations. A trip to my favourite garden store on Saturday, a special meal with our community and a few friends on Monday, lunch with more friends on Tuesday and Wednesday, and a zoom call with family in Australia on Thursday. So much to celebrate and so many ways in which to celebrate.
My Meditation Monday – Discerning With Henri Nouwen, began a series that I will expand over the next couple of weeks as I prepare for the upcoming webinar. I love Nouwen’s question “What books have shaped your life, your history with God?” It took me on an interesting journey this last week, a process of reflection that I highly recommend to you.
On Saturday Diane Woodrow in You Don’t Need To Do It, reflected on how what we believe really can effect what will come to pass. I loved Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: It’s Still Epiphany We Can Keep Celebrating and her suggestion that during this season we pay attention to the Magi and the lessons we can learn through them. Don’t miss reading T.S. Eliot’s wonderful poem The Journey of the Magi that she includes.
My personal favourite for the week was Andy Janzen’s Phenology Wheel Eco-Spiritual Practice, something I hope to follow through on this next week. Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life. A phenology wheel is a way to record what we are noticing in the circle of the year. Such a fun and inspirational idea. On Tuesday we shared more of Ana Lisa De Jong’s beautiful poems. I always find them to be very nourishing.
Today’s poem was inspired by a program I watched last week that delighted over the beautifully manicured lawns of suburban developments. Every blade of grass in order. Not a thing out of place to mar the pristine grassy slopes. They fill me, not with delight but with pain because of their destructiveness of the natural environment, their lack of imagination and total disconnect from the natural world.
I hate a beautifully manicured lawn,
Vibrant green,
Without a weed in sight.
What happened to the dandelions,
That make our children laugh?
Where are bees and insects
That should fill it with life?
I grieve its lust for water,
And chemicals that clog our waterways.
I ache at the ordered pattern,
That speaks of our desire for control,
The will to master
What God means to be free.
My love is for a wild, unfettered landscape,
Where children blow and scatter seed,
With reckless glee ,
And eye the weird and wonderful
With delighted giggles
And excited gasps of awe.
The love of God grows strange and wondrous things,
It weaves a song through all creation
Wildflower beauty,
That ever should be free.
Many blessings
Christine Sine
Join Christine Sine January 27th, 2023 10 am – 12 pm PT for a virtual retreat, Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World, as she facilitates an exploration of practices that enable us to become “all ears” and listen in all circumstances to the voice of God. This session will be full of helpful input, discussion and creativity. Come join us and learn to listen more deeply to the voice of God.
by Christine Sine
January is a month for discernment. Over the last few days many of us in North America have been confined to the house by icy blasts and snow. It’s a great time to curl up with a good book, spend some time in prayer and listening to God. My go to book is always Henri Nouwen’s Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life.
In the introduction he gives a great definition of discernment:
Discernment is about listening and responding to the place within us where our deepest desires align with God’s desires. As discerning people we sift through our impulses, motives and options to discover which ones lead us closer to divine love and compassion for ourselves and other people and which ones lead us further away. (xv)
This week it was the second section of the book “Discerning Guidance in Books, Nature, People and Events” that really caught my attention and has expanded into what is becoming a new series on discernment. His chapters: Read the Way Forward; Read the Book of Nature; Pay Attention to People in Your Path and Discern the Signs of the Times are each worthy of at least one post. Today I will start with books.
“What books have shaped your life, your history with God?” Nouwen asks, a little daunting in this day and age when many of us read at least one book a month. Even more daunting when one realizes, as I do, that I have read hundreds of books since I became a Christian as a teenager. However, as I sat and reflected on this, a pattern emerged. The kinds of books that influenced my thinking and shaped my faith changed as I grew and matured, a healthy progression for all of us. It was great to reflect back on these trends and how they influenced my view of God and the spiritual practices that drew me close to the Divine.
In my early years, scripture study held my attention and scripture union resources in particular created a rich foundation for my faith. Then I developed a passion for missionary biographies , and was inspired by books like Ten Fingers for God about Dr Paul Brand who pioneered tendon transplants through his work with lepers in India, and One Vision Only: The Biography of Isobel Kuhn. It was books like this that set the trajectory of my life, convincing me that I was called to serve God on the mission field and propelling me to join Mercy Ships in 1980. My time on the ship and working with refugees on the Thai/Cambodian border turned my life and faith upside down. When I was married in 1992 I needed a whole new array of books to lead my journey as I struggled to make sense out of my experiences. Three streams of books helped shape the next stage of my journey.
The concept of shalom, which I first heard about in James Metzger’s book Saigon to Shalom and then introduced to the wonderful works of Walter Brueggemann and a life long commitment to social justice. The study of this concept became a growing passion for me and eventually came together in my booklet Shalom and the Wholeness of God.
However this did not meet all the spiritual cravings in my life. It was also at this time that I was exposed to books on contemplation and monasticism, beginning believe it or not with a series of novels on the life of Brother Cadfael, a 12th century monk who lived on the Welsh/English border. The first book in the series, A Morbid Taste for Bones introduced me to a rhythm of life that was very intriguing for me. Henri Nouwen: The Wounded Healer and Thomas Merton’s New Seeds of Contemplation and other books by these wonderful authors soon followed. Then came the discovery of more contemporary contemplatives like Christine Valter’s Paintner whose book The Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice introduced me to the possibility of spiritual practices beyond the traditional forms of prayer and Bible study.
On our honeymoon Tom introduced me to Celtic Christian spirituality, and this continues to be a strong passion of mine. Through authors like Phillip Newell and his book Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul I continue to find inspiration for my spiritual practices and view of faith.
Last but not least are the books on gardening and spirituality and nature. Such a wonderful discovery in the last ten years. Norman Wirzba’s Food and Faith: A Theology of Eating was particularly valuable as a book for framing my own journey, though many others have added practices and ideas that continue to enrich me.
Why am I sharing this you may ask? First because I think it is good for all of us to look back on what has shaped us in the past as this often holds clues to what will shape us in the future. Unfortunately with the incredible array of books out there it is very easy to read something and then forget about it completely. Looking back and reflecting on what we have read gives us the ability to be intentional in what further shapes us. Sometimes we need to be educated in fresh ways, and what we read is a good place to start.
Nouwen encourages us to read attentively. I was fascinated by his comments on Thomas Merton whom he says was introduced to asceticism by Aldous Huxley, encouraged in everyday spirituality by Therese of of Lisieux and brought into contemplative prayer by Ignatius of Loyola. Reminded me of my own introduction to monasticism by Brother Cadfael. Don’t despise the novels that also often shape our thinking.
My current reading incorporates a lot of black and indigenous authors as I grapple with the challenges of how white Western theology contributed to genocide of indigenous people in many parts of the world and the enslavement of others. I am also reading a lot of garden books – 2 fascinating ones I got for Christmas The Writer’s Garden: How Gardens Inspired the World’s Great Authors, a fascinating look at the gardens that inspired writers around the world like Robbert Burns and Agatha Christie, and Gardening Can be Murder: How Poisonous Poppies, Sinister Shovels and Grim Gardens Have inspired Mystery Writers which interweaves plant information with mystery books by some of my favourite authors. Yes you guessed it I love a good mystery story, though my current light reading is more sci-fi and urban fantasy.
What have you read in the last few months that has most strongly shaped your beliefs and your practices? As you sit and discern, what other directions might God prompt you to do more reading in? How could these decisions change the shape of your life and your faith?
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Sign up for all three upcoming retreats at a considerable discount.
My dog’s biggest decision/resolution for any day of the week is what toy shall he play with from his two new ones. And each decision is “new every morning”
On a Facebook group I’m part of my QEC practitioner suggested instead of feeling like we are being forced into New year resolutions – that most of us feel guilty about breaking by mid-January – why not QEC a vision of Peace, Joy and Plenty for 2024. This is working with that principle that what we believe will come to pass will come to pass. This isn’t a “Pollyanna” “pie in the sky” way of thinking. This isn’t saying that we will be protected from bad things happening. But it is saying that we will ride through them with peace, with deep joy [not the silly giggles but something deep and fundamental] and that we will know we will have plenty/enough of whatever we need to see us through.
All this is what God says to us through the Bible – that “the joy of the Lord is our strength” [Nehemiah 8:10], “my peace I give to you” [John 14:27] and Matthew 6:25-34 which tells us not to worry about anything because God has it all for us. God has what we need in abundance. Though too often we do not see Christians living this out, so find it hard to believe. But it is there!
But I realised as I was free writing around this that there is an order to have this happen. I felt that one couldn’t just dive into believing there is plenty/enough/an abundance because it is so hard to believe. It is why we have to QEC things and put in new beliefs so we can start on that journey.
- But that QEC journey starts, I think, with us having peace with our past, with our upbringing, with our mistakes.
- From this place comes deep joy that we are such amazing people, even if that has been lost in things that have been said to us as children.
- Then once we are at this place of deep joy and gratitude, then we can believe we have plenty for what lies ahead each and every single day.
To succeed with this we need to be like those who go to Alcoholics Anonymous believe, that what we have this for each day and we rejoice in the dailiness of it and not have to stake it up for longer than today.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
…
Amen.
Note the “living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at at time” or as Lamentations 3:23 says, God’s blessings are “new every morning” because “great is your faithfulness”.
By not trying to put it in resolutions – that we aren’t doing at the moment anyway and so won’t stick to because there are reasons why we didn’t start now – but listening to our hearts and going day by day doing our best to live in peace, from which follows joy and gratitude, givings us the hope of living in plenty/enough then we can move in harmony with ourselves, with God, with The Universe, and with each other.
Join Christine Sine January 27th, 2023 10 am – 12 pm PT for a virtual retreat, Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World, as she facilitates an exploration of practices that enable us to become “all ears” and listen in all circumstances to the voice of God. This session will be full of helpful input, discussion and creativity. Come join us and learn to listen more deeply to the voice of God.
1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory— this was during Herod’s kingship—a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East. They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”
3-4 When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified—and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well. Herod lost no time. He gathered all the high priests and religion scholars in the city together and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born?”
5-6 They told him, “Bethlehem, Judah territory. The prophet Micah wrote it plainly:
It’s you, Bethlehem, in Judah’s land, no longer bringing up the rear.
From you will come the leader who will shepherd-rule my people, my Israel.”
7-8 Herod then arranged a secret meeting with the scholars from the East. Pretending to be as devout as they were, he got them to tell him exactly when the birth-announcement star appeared. Then he told them the prophecy about Bethlehem, and said, “Go find this child. Leave no stone unturned. As soon as you find him, send word and I’ll join you at once in your worship.”
9-10 Instructed by the king, they set off. Then the star appeared again, the same star they had seen in the eastern skies. It led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!
11 They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they kneeled and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.
12 In a dream, they were warned not to report back to Herod. So they worked out another route, left the territory without being seen, and returned to their own country. MATTHEW 2: 1-12 THE MESSAGE
I didn’t grow up celebrating Epiphany. I had a great aunt Dot who talked about the 12th Night and she always had her tree up til Epiphany, but I didn’t really understand the connection to the visit of the Magi. I definitely didn’t have a connection to the church year calendar.
Now I celebrate a Season of Epiphany. Not just one day. I don’t just jump back into regular life if I can help it. In fact my tree is still lit and my decorations are still up at least for a few more days. I’ve noticed several people in my neighborhood still have their trees lit up at night. I think we are all are in need of the Light. We aren’t ready to move on to the next thing.
Last week I offered the Invitation to Follow the Star into the new year and the new season ahead. This week I invite you to consider what it was like to be the Magi. What was it like to journey back home? Growing up, I didn’t really know anything about the traditional names or ages of the Magi or that they probably didn’t arrive in Bethlehem til Jesus was a young toddler. At my house, the three figures of the “Wise Men” were in the manger scene arriving on the night of Jesus’s birth bringing their gifts to the baby.
How about you? Did you celebrate Epiphany? What was your impression of the Magi growing up? Did you have one? Did you pay attention?
Here’s artist Ted Lyddon Hatten’s view :
“Epiphany, January 6, marks the arrival of the gift-toting, star-following magi: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar.
The story of the Wise Men has many versions. The one I grew up with had them offering gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh from Asia, Persia, and Africa, respectively. Each magi represented a different culture from a different season of life. Melchior was 60, Gaspar in his 40’s, and Balthazar was the 20-year-old wise man from Ethiopia.
Balthazar was by far my favorite figurine in the nativity set from my childhood. His skin was the color of chocolate, his treasure chest, like his lips, was sealed tight. While all the other figures stood in awe, Balthazar took a knee.
I don’t know what ever became that nativity set, but the spell that Balthazar cast over me still holds.
Myrrh, the gift he brought to the Messiah’s baby shower left a trail of intrigue that I continue to follow in my work as an artist. Myrrh was a costly burial spice, which makes tragic sense.
The wisdom of a 20-year old Black man is as clear as the yonder star over a weary Bethlehem. Life is fleeting, particularly for Black and Brown-skinned babies. Balthazar was covering the funeral costs upfront for a death he knew would come too soon.
To honor Balthazar, his wisdom, and the Black lives we carelessly discard, here are a few images of my work with myrrh over the years.
peace,
TLH
What do you notice? What make you curious? You might check out more on
on the Magi from Wikipedia
Adoration of the Magi Rubens
Now read and ponder the poem by T. S. Eliot
The Journey of the Magi
‘A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.’
And the camels galled, sore-footed, refractory,
Lying down in the melting snow.
There were times we regretted
The summer palaces on slopes, the terraces,
And the silken girls bringing sherbet.
Then the camel men cursing and grumbling
And running away, and wanting their liquor and women,
And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters,
And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly
And the villages dirty and charging high prices:
A hard time we had of it.
At the end we preferred to travel all night,
Sleeping in snatches,
With the voices singing in our ears, saying
That this was all folly.
Then at dawn we came down to a temperate valley,
Wet, below the snow line, smelling of vegetation;
With a running stream and a water-mill beating the darkness,
And three trees on the low sky,
And an old white horse galloped away in the meadow.
Then we came to a tavern with vine-leaves over the lintel,
Six hands at an open door dicing for pieces of silver,
And feet kicking the empty wine-skins.
But there was no information, and so we continued
And arriving at evening, not a moment too soon
Finding the place; it was (you may say) satisfactory.
All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these Kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
What sparks your attention in the poem?
Imagine what it was like to be one of the Magi….Heading home from seeing the Baby King….Their saddle bags are empty but their hearts are full. They found the One they’d been looking for, but now they have to go back home another way.
Weren’t they tired? They didn’t seem to get to stay very long and revel in their discovery of Jesus.
I never really thought about what they felt like or how long they might have gotten to spend with Jesus.
Did the new way home take longer than it did to get there?
Was this route more dangerous than the one they just completed?
What was home life like when they returned? Had people changed? Did they want to hear about the journey? Did they want to see the post cards and look at all the photos? Or were they just indifferent?
How have we changed after we’ve seen Jesus? After we’ve had an encounter with him?
What are we like when we get back home?
How has meeting Jesus changed you this past year?
Consider how your journey with Jesus has changed you in the last few weeks, months. What do you notice? What did you learn?
How do you anticipate your journey going forward into the new year? Do you have to go back a different way?
Are you expecting things to take longer? Are you expecting conflict or smooth sailing ? Talk to Jesus about this.
Who do you need to journey with?
What gifts, resources or supplies do you need to journey on the road of 2024? Take some time to consider the journey ahead.
I know that I need the extra time of the Epiphany season to help me to keep the celebration going. To help me remember the gifts of last year. I need the season of Epiphany to reconnect to the story of Jesus being born and the entire world changing forever. To help me remember how meeting Jesus this past year has changed me!
I need to keep lighting candles, making time to listen and taking time to look at the stars and receive the wonder of Immanuel.
Epiphany Centerpiece
If you’ve put away the Christmas decorations, find something new to remind you of the Magi and the celebration of Epiphany. You might create a new center piece with stars or three containers or gifts to represent the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Allow the stars and the Gifts of the Magi to remind you that Jesus is with you on our journey. You might create a pathway or find a new place or route to walk as a part of your epiphany practice.
Star Words
Choose a STAR WORD or two and allow Jesus to inspire you. Here’s a List of Words you can cut out and choose from.
Take time to Look and Listen just like the Magi of old. You might create your own Epiphany Play List to listen to the rest of January.
ART BY TED LYDDON HATTEN
Remember that Jesus even knows what it’s like to have to leave in the middle of the night and not really know the path. We are not alone. Jesus is with us on the road.
THE BLESSING OF LIGHT :
May the blessing of light be upon you,
Light without and Light within…
And in all your comings and goings,
May you ever have a kindly greeting
From any you meet along the road.
From old Gaelic p. 1091 Celtic Daily Prayer book 2
MAIN ART: The Three Wise Men by Alma Thomas
by Wendy Janzen
At Burning Bush Forest Church, we meet once a month for outdoor worship, and once a month for a learning/serving/action/community building event. To supplement those events, we offer an eco-spiritual practice of the month for people to explore on their own.
What is an eco-spiritual practice? There are a variety of ways this could be defined, depending on who you are and how you approach ecospirituality. As a Christian pastor and spiritual director, I see eco-spiritual practices as invitations to explore and deepen our spiritual lives through activities that invite contemplative connections with creation and creative or embodied expression of our response to God’s presence there. To some, they may seem far from a typical prayer practice, but as I read somewhere, anything can be a prayer when we bring that intention to it. eco-spiritual practices invite us into the wondrous, to nurture our spirit and connect with God.
The eco-spiritual practice we are currently exploring is creating a phenology wheel. Phenology is the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, especially in relation to climate and plant and animal life. A phenology wheel is a way to record what we are noticing in the circle of the year. To make it a spiritual practice, an added element of recording the liturgical calendar or a spiritual insight connected to each month, adds another layer of paying attention. Because it is a wheel, you can begin this practice at any time of year.
I first discovered the phenology wheel in 2016 (on the Raising Little Shoots website), the same year I founded Burning Bush Forest Church. It appealed to me as a personal practice to aid in deepening my own awareness of God’s activity and presence with me in nature as I led others in outdoor worship. I sensed that if I was going to be leading a different kind of worshiping community I needed new and different kinds of spiritual practices to ground me in my ministry. It was an enlightening experience, one that opened me to engaging with the cycles of nature in ways that also nurtured my faith.
To engage with this as an eco-spiritual practice, create your own template using whatever you have on hand – I used the back of some scrapbooking paper, a dinner plate and a ruler to create my template with a bit of trial and error (This time around I am switching to watercolor paper).
Once you have your template at the ready, turn your attention to what you notice around you each month. Take leisurely walks, gaze out the window, notice weather patterns, track the changes in daylight or moon cycles, watch for wildlife. See what captures your attention and take time to connect and reflect.
To quote Mary Oliver’s Instructions for Living a Life, “Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” Pay attention each month to what astonishes you. What captures your curiosity? Observe the ordinary and the unusual. Then tell about it through creative expression. You may want to take pictures or keep a journal through the month to help you notice patterns or significant moments.
When the inspiration hits, or at the end of the month, pull out your template and whatever art supplies you have on hand. Use the outer part of the wedge to express what rises to the surface when you think about connecting with creation this month. Don’t worry about your artistic ability – this isn’t for show.
Use the inner part of the wedge to somehow record what resonated with your spirit or interior life this month – a ritual, a holy day, particular words, a mood. Is there any intersection between what you are noticing and the liturgical season you are in (if you are from a tradition that follows liturgical seasons)? Does your experience bring to mind a scripture verse or line of poetry? Does it inspire a prayer? Does it have anything to show you about God’s presence and revelation in creation?
Be playful, open-minded and open-hearted with this practice. My hope is that this practice
- encourages you pay attention to your surroundings better
- deepens your sense of connection to your watershed and with the other creatures in the community of creation
- affects your sense of time and the changing seasons
- inspires you to see God in creation, and helps to see creation as a revelation of God’s compassionate and ongoing presence on earth.
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Wendy Janzen is pastor of Burning Bush Forest Church, an experimental faith community that began gathering for outdoor worship in the Grand River watershed in 2016. She is also one of the co-founders of the Wild Church Network, serves as Eco-Minister for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada, and is a spiritual director. As someone who left childhood believing she was not artistic or creative, she is enjoying exploring new creative outlets as a response to God’s creative activity in the world.
“Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and healing both inside and around you.” (Brian McLaren)
Christine Sine is offering three virtual retreats this winter: Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World, Lent Quiet Day: Beauty from Ashes, and Spirituality of Gardening. Register for all three retreats here.
Welcome to the season of Epiphany. Over the weekend, I posted one of my Epiphany prayers on Facebook. It includes the lines:
The Christmas star has not faded,
It has been planted in us.
The light of the world has not dimmed.
It shines in you, in me, in all creation.
And the darkness can never extinguish it.
I really need these words at the moment. Christmas is over. This weekend we took down our decorations, dismantled our tree and turned off the Christmas lights. Everything suddenly looks very drab, and here in Seattle a dreary rainy day adds to that feeling. However, this month of January is a very important one. It is one that helps to set the trajectory of the rest of the year. It encourages us to think about the future, spend time listening to God’s voice and take time for discernment, and planning and, if you are a gardener like me, its time to begin planting too.
Henri Nouwen in his book Discernment: Reading the Signs of Daily Life suggests that discernment needs to become a way of life for all of us, but we all need help to move in that direction. Ear marking January as a month for discernment is a great way to move the rest of our lives in the right direction. My own personal journey this year began with rereading both Nouwen’s book and Margaret Silf’s Sacred Spaces: Stations on a Celtic Way which provided the framework for my Monday Meditation: Letting Go. What she suggests is that we all need to strive to make decisions that encourage our roots to grow deeper. Our goal should be to develop the inner core of our being so that it draws us closer to God, to each other and to all of creation. Every time we choose well and grow our roots deeper, our ability to discern the next steps to enable us to grow into the people God wants us to become will grow a little bit sharper and more clearly defined.
It is easier for us to focus on the upward growth and the fruit, but this really is only an outward sign or an inward development. A good question to ask ourselves in every decision we make is: “Which course of action is more likely to lead to a deepening of our true self and a closer bonding with the truest self of every other creature and of all creation?”
I encourage you to develop your own discernment process for this month. Maybe you would like to read Nouwen or one of the other books in Godspacelight’s The Art of Discernment reading list. Please also consider signing up for the Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World webinar at the end of the month. This will be a great time to explore some of the best practices that help us discern and make discernment into a way of life.
Last night we chalked the doors on all three floors of our Mustard Seed House Community. What a fun activity to begin this season with. Like Emily Huff, who sent me the Chalking the Door description and practice several years ago, I never tire of this tradition to mark our door and to take a moment to remember the friends and family who have passed through our door during the past year. It’s great to give thanks for them, and to ask for God’s blessing and light to shine on those who will come through our door in the coming year. I talked about this in my sermon at Seattle Mennonite Church on Sunday too and one of the congregation came up to me later and told me he had already started his list of people to pray for.
The next wonderful celebration on my list for the year is Imbolc and Candlemas. I look forward to making St Brigid crosses again. Lilly Lewin and I talked about this in our Facebook live session Candlemas, St Brigid and Praying with a Cup last year. So if you are looking for another celebration to enjoy before Lent begins make sure you check it out.
I loved Lilly Lewin’s Freerange Friday: An Invitation to Follow… the Star. Don’t miss the stunning art piece of the Magi she included as well as her wonderful reflection. It was also a delight to have Ana Lisa De Jong contribute someNew Year’s Eve poems. She has blessed us with many such gifts over the years. I heartily recommend these new poems as well as her The Gateway to Heaven: Poems for Contemplation that is available as a free download from the Godspacelight store.
On Wednesday, Barbie Perks posted a very profound post Comfort My People that revolved around a discarded bird’s nest that she picked up. “How many times do we as people, I as a person, tend to discard God’s comfort without reason? Sometimes we just flat out don’t even know what that comfort looks like because we are so focussed on what we want, how our issues could be resolved, that we are oblivious to what God is doing in our lives. I know I am guilty of this.”
Last week, Forrest Inslee and I recorded the introductory episode for my new podcast The Liturgical Rebels and in the next few weeks I expect to interview Kelly Latimore, Drew Jackson, Scott Erickson and Brian McLaren. So exciting! No definite launch date yet, but I am still aiming for a birthday celebration for me on January 18th.
I am also delighted to announce that you can now sign up for our spring webinar series which begins with Spiritual Discernment in a Confusing World on January 27th, followed by Lent Quiet Day – Beauty from Ashes on March 2nd and then Spirituality of Gardening on May 11th. Once again we have a reduced price for those who sign up for all three. Your participation in the Spirituality of gardening webinar also includes a digital copy of To Garden With God.
Life is very full and very satisfying at the moment, though I am aware that we live in an uncertain world as is expressed in this closing prayer by the Celtic saint, St Brendan.
Help me to journey beyond the familiar
and into the unknown.
Give me the faith to leave old ways
and break fresh ground with You.
Christ of the mysteries, I trust You
to be stronger than each storm within me.
I will trust in the darkness and know
that my times, even now, are in Your hand.
Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,
and somehow, make my obedience count for You.
The Prayer of St. Brendan
Many Blessings
Christine is offering three virtual retreats this winter: Spiritual Discernment: Finding Direction in a Confusing World, Lent Quiet Day: Beauty from Ashes, and Spirituality of Gardening. Register for all three retreats here.
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