Tomorrow is the first day of Advent and our journey towards Bethlehem with Mary and Joseph has begun. But where will we end up and who will we bring with us? Is it to a stable, or is into the family home. Do we travel alone or are we accompanied by friends and strangers. Our images of the destination shape our faith in ways we don’t even realize.
Lk 2:7 tells us: she (Mary) gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
According to New Testament theologian Kenneth Bailey in his wonderful book Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, Jesus was not born in a stable at all. . Middle Eastern cultures are known for their hospitality and Joseph was coming home with a new wife and an expected first child. The whole family was gathering, aunts and uncles, cousins and brothers and sisters. All of them coming home. Yes there was a census that brought them together but in a fun loving culture like this it would not have diminished the welcome or the excitement of a homecoming gathering. The expectation of a baby to be born in their midst would only have increased the excitement.
As Kenneth Bailey explains, the Greek word (katalyma or kataluma) translated as inn in some translations does not mean a commercial building with rooms for travelers. It’s a guest space, typically the upper room of a common village home as the NIV translation above tells us.
“A simple village home in the time of King David, up until the Second World War, in the Holy Land, had two rooms—one for guests, one for the family. The family room had an area, usually about four feet lower, for the family donkey, the family cow, and two or three sheep. They are brought in last thing at night and taken out and tied up in the courtyard first thing in the morning.
“Out of the stone floor of the living room, close to family animals, you dig mangers or make a small one out of wood for sheep. Jesus is clearly welcomed into a family home,” See the entire article here
It was to this simple village home that the shepherds and wise men alike came. Shepherds despised and regarded as unclean by their society, are visited by angels and invited to join the great home coming celebration that marks the coming of the child who will become the Messiah. That they were welcomed and not turned away from this home is remarkable. This is good news indeed for the outcast and the despised.
Then the wise men come, according to Bailey, Gentiles, rich men on camels, probably from Arabia. They too are unacceptable to the Jews. That the family let them in to see the baby is also amazing. Yet they come, and they are welcomed. They come not to the city of Jerusalem where the Jews thought God’s glory would shine, but to the child born in a manager around whom there is already a great light. The wise men come to find a new home, a new place of belonging that has beckoned to them across the world. This too is remarkable and good news for refugees from so many nations who long for a place to belong, a place to call home.
Bailey tells us that the birth stories of Jesus “de-Zionize” the Messianic traditions. Hopes and expectations for the city of Jerusalem are fulfilled in the birth of the child Jesus. (p54).
The new family, the community that will be formed around this child, does not look to the earthly Jerusalem as its home, but to the heavenly Jerusalem which will come down from heaven as a gift of God at the end of history. (Revelation 21:1-4). And it is to this home, a place with no more tears, or oppression or starvation that all of us are beckoned by the birth of Christ.
I love this imagery. Even in the birth of Jesus we are called towards a new family and a new home. There are family and friends and animals. And special invitations by angels for the despised and rejected, and a star to guide the strangers and those who seem far off. The new family and the home envisioned in the birth of Jesus is inclusive of all who accept God’s invitation.
This is indeed good news for refugees and those fleeing war and oppression today. It is good news for those who feel despised and rejected within our society. And it is good news for those of us who struggle to know how to respond.
As we begin our journey towards Bethlehem, let us not just follow the star but may we allow it to shape us into the people God wants us to be.
(This post is adapted from one I wrote a couple of years ago for the beginning of Advent. I so love the imagery Bailey creates for us that I like to share it each year.)
Welcome to Advent, that wonderful season in which we await the coming of Christ, not just as a baby, but also as the Savior coming into our lives and into our world.
On Godspace our Advent theme is Lean Towards the Light. In celebrating the birth of Jesus, we often forget that the light of Christ is already shining in our world. In the northern hemisphere, we may be aware that darkness is the place in which seeds germinate. In the southern hemisphere, leaning towards the light engenders images of growth and summer sunsets splashed across the sky. Wherever we are in God’s world, let us learn to lean towards the light.
We launched the season a little early, today, by posting my yearly Advent video Leaning Towards the Light. It contains amazing photos by Craig Goodwin and Tom Balke (Title photo) and beautiful music by Jeff Johnson.
Produced and written by Christine Sine for Mustard Seed Associates.
The music is “Antiphon” from the CD, ANTIPHON by the Coram Deo Ensemble. Music by Janet Chvatal, Jeff Johnson & Brian Dunning
℗© 2011 Sola Scriptura Songs / ArkMusic.com
Used with permission. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
We will post daily reflections, prayers and music throughout the season to inspire and challenge all of us. Leaning towards the light is not just about our personal preparation. It embraces our response to world crises, our attitudes towards those at the margins, and compassionate care for friend and stranger alike.
In addition, we have a variety of Advent/Christmas resource lists you might like to explore including this beautiful Advent candle lighting liturgy by Emma Morgan of Melbourne, Australia.
New Gift and New Resources for You this Advent Season
As a free gift to you all, a small way to say thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement, we offer our new Advent/Christmas colouring book, Colour Your Way Through Advent and Christmas. Colouring pages are based on the O Antiphon images drawn for us last year by Danielle Poland for our popular devotional A Journey Toward Home: Soul Travel from Advent to Lent. Additional Christmas images were created by our new volunteer Shelby Selvidge.
It is the season for gratitude, an emotion that, unfortunately, does not seem to come naturally for us. But we can intentionally choose to be grateful.
As we celebrate American Thanksgiving with gratitude and thanksgiving, many books come to mind. Here are a few of my favourites:
- Diana Butler Bass’s book Grateful: The Subversive Practice of Giving Thanks
- Ann Voskamp’s wonderful book: One Thousand Gifts
- Janice Kaplan : The Gratitude Diaries
- Brother David Steidl-Rast: Gratefulness, The Heart of Prayer
- Joshua Choonmin Kang: Spirituality of Gratitude: Unexpected Blessings of Thankfulness
- Lynne M Baab: Two Hands: Grief and Gratitude in the Christian Life
- Robert A Emmons The Little Book of Gratitude: Create a Life of Happiness and Wellbeing By Giving Thanks
And if you want an inspiring short meditation on gratitude, as a prelude to your Thanksgiving meal, nothing can beat this video by Brother David Steindl-Rast.
NOTE: As an Amazon Associate I receive a small amount for purchases made through the above links. Thank you for supporting Godspacelight in this way.
There are only a few days left of the liturgical year and I have decided its time to reflect back on what God has said to me over the year. I have gathered all the stones that I used in my contemplative gardens this year, all my quotes and words of inspiration and encouragement and put them together for the day into a single garden.
I have savoured each of the rocks, holding them in my hand and reminding myself of how God used them as spiritual markers for me over the year. I am finding more and more that writing on rocks is an inspirational practice that provides tangible memories far more durable than paper.
It has been a profound experience, a wonderful reminder in this week of thanksgiving and gratitude of the guidance and direction of God and of the amazing grace of God that I have experienced in the process.
I encourage you too not to wait until the end of the calendar year to do some reflecting. Take time during this week of thanksgiving and gratitude to look back on what God has done in your life this year. Savour the memories you have of when and how God has spoken to you. Hopefully you have some tangible objects, like my rocks, to assist you. If not write down a list of memories from the year and what God has spoken to you.
American Thanksgiving is on Thursday, a day that I, like so many others, love to celebrate with friends and family. last year I wrote this liturgy for the season and a prayer entitled Thank God It Will Suffice.
Each year as we approach this day I am reminded of the power of thanksgiving and gratitude. It makes us happy, boosts our health, improves our immune system, helps us sleep better and even makes us score higher on tests.
I always try to take time at Thanksgiving to remind myself of the many blessings God has gifted me with and I encourage you to do the same. In the midst of travel, cooking and fun with family and friends take time this thanksgiving to offer up your gratitude to God for all the blessings of life, love and grace.
This last weekend I facilitated a retreat about getting ready for Advent, at a church in Seattle. Advent is meant to be a time when we focus on our celebration the coming of Christ yet we are all torn by the pressures of the culture that invite us to focus our celebrations on consumerism and over indulgence.
Our retreat discussions revolved around the need to negotiate the tension between the stress of busy consumerism and the joy of gathering with friends and family to share fun, food and fellowship, the stress of hectic activity and the desire to slow down and reflect. Reflective times provided fun opportunities to light candles, contemplate images, paint rocks and colour words of faith.
I encouraged participants to look back over the last year at items they have been given or created or else experiences they have been through and consider ways they could use these as a focus. One woman had recently gone through a traumatic relationship breakup and was struggling with lots of sad feelings. She decided that during Advent, every time she felt sad she would use that as a trigger for an act of kindness towards a friend or stranger. Another was reminded of the art journal she used to keep that has been neglected for the last couple of years. She felt God was prompting her to restart it.
What is Your Response?
The questions we grappled with are ones that I think are important for all of us to reflect on at this season and that I invite you to think about today:
- What gives you stress and makes you lean away from the light of Christ?
- What gives you joy and encourages you to lean close to the light of Christ?
- What helps you focus on the real meaning of the season and the light of Christ shining in our world?
- What really matters to you during the season of Advent/Christmas and how do you eliminate or reduce everything else?
My own preparations for Advent have me setting up my personal sacred space with my Advent garden, family photos and prayer cards which help me focus each day. I am also deciding on a short morning ritual that will help focus my day – this year I plan to read one of the prayer cards and its reflection that I put together a few months ago, then reflect on the phrase that is my theme for Advent this year “Lean towards the light of Christ”.
For our joint observances Tom and I will listen to a Gregorian chant at breakfast time, light the appropriate Advent candles, then read through the scriptures for the day from The Book of Common prayer.
These rituals help ground us in the real meaning of the season, allowing us to balance our desire to slow down and wait contemplatively for the coming of Christ with our desire for celebration and partying with friends and family.
What is your response?
I invite you to develop a focus for yourself during this Advent season. Watch the video below – this beautiful Advent song of longing is one way to focus our hearts and minds on the presence of God.
Take some time to look back over this last year.
- What practices and traditions from your past could provide a focus for you during this season?
- What have you created or been given, what memory stirring objects do you have that could provide a focus for you?
- What activities do you enjoy that could provide a focus for you?
Now get to work and establish your own sacred space and spiritual practice for the season. And remember make it simple, make it meaningful, stick to it.
Peruvian Nativity by Marcia Carole
One of my favorite artists is Marcia Carole. She leads ministry workshops with art in many countries. She was in Peru in not long ago, which inspired her newest creation – this ‘Peruvian Nativity – God Is With Us.’
I’m interested in her creative process, so below are some other pictures…. and part of her story as she created this lovely painting while in the hospital for chemo for stage 4 breast cancer, and her reflection about the implications of the Incarnation for the world, and for her.
Marcia writes, “I saw donkeys and alpacas when I visited Peru. It was fun to add these animals to the scene.” Here’s one of the early pictures of the process of painting this image:
Marcia writes, “ I am completing a nativity scene in response to my time in Peru. I love all the vivid colors there. No one is afraid of deep blue, bright orange or a green that pops with life.”
She printed the final image on Christmas cards:
I find all of Marcia’s art to be beautiful and engaging; it appeals to my aesthetic sense at a remarkable level. What is even more remarkable is that Marcia is still alive and being creative after struggling deeply with stage 4 breast cancer for quite awhile.
Being very painfully aware of her own mortality drives Marcia to God, drives Marcia to create art for the glory of God (art of many types and subjects), drives Marcia to reflect upon the meaning of the Incarnation for the whole world.
She does that well in a moving essay on her blog about what it’s like to create this painting while in the hospital for yet more chemo treatments. Read her entire short essay on her blog Art Engaging Story
Here’s an excerpt …
I get a spurt of energy and think for a moment that, just maybe, I don’t have stage 4 breast cancer. Maybe I am fine!
That joyous thought is quickly swept away when I get tangled in my yards of oxygen tubing or my side begins to ache because of the cancerous fluid remaining in my right lung. I’m rudely jerked back to my current reality. I am sick. And, it is a long journey to get somewhat better.
Then, I sigh, and begin again, adding layers of bright, happy colors to my painting. God with us – Christmas. God with skin on – Jesus – came to live among us. He humbly started His journey as a baby. I am always amazed at this truth. I take some pain pills for my lung, and quietly worship as I add more layers of beautiful color. Yes, Beauty came to our broken world, and to mine. Even my world of cancer.
Please pray for my friend Marcia, we would deeply appreciate that.
To see more of her marvelous work and get Christmas cards with this lovely ‘Peruvian Nativity’ scene, visit her at The Creative Call Art Store
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This article was first published on Global Christian Worship as Peruvian Nativity by Marcia Carole
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