Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God (Isaiah 40:1)
Alexandra Bircken’s site-specific installation Deflated Bodies in the Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield, forms part of her Eskalation 2014 exhibition. As Curator Eleanor Clayton says: “Five ladders run up the gallery walls, spanning eight metres to reach the sunlight spilling down from an unseen source. On the ladders are multiple figures, male and female, made of cloth sewn to real-person specifications and covered in black latex. The work is theatrical, presenting a scene that longs for a narrative.”
For me, transfixed and awe-struck by the raw power of this extraordinary piece of art, Advent is that narrative. The deflated figures and the ladders which beguile them express so immediately, so vividly and so accessibly the whole panorama of human folly, frailty and failure which the Advent texts speak out of and into with such clarity and conviction.
Take the following image as a starting point and ponder all those points of connection with the texts at the heart of Advent. Reflect on the heartfelt truth that it portrays.
This is how Advent always begins. In the place where everything seems lost; where the human condition is experienced at its most starkly bleak. It is only within this manger of dread, desolation and despair that Christmas makes sense. Only there can we feel its new born warmth for ourselves and cradle its living truth in our arms. Nowhere else. God invites us to journey into our darkness on the strength of a promise, daring to believe that the incarnation of love will become real in the wombspace of our fragile faith.
This is always a collective endeavour. In Advent we travel for ourselves and we travel for the sake of others, always these two held together as one redefining purpose. The dread, desolation and despair may not be our own this time around, but it will be somebody’s truth, somewhere very close and somewhere far away. Advent is the great collectiviser of God’s economy: our imagined separation from the desperate plight of others is destroyed by the inclusive ardour of the divine will which places the manger where we would be least inclined to welcome it as gift.
To me Deflated Bodies provides an holistic visualisation of the narrative trajectories of human being along which Advent leads us and into which Christmas speaks. Here are the people of the prophets. Here is all the agony, angst and ennui out of which the Old Testament gives testimony to God’s alternative world view and the passionate single-minded creativity with which God pursues it through people of faith. Here is all the deflated misery of the human soul.
Here too are the ladder-like temptations, false promises, misguided schemes and malevolent strategies which lead us astray and set us against each other. Here also is the politics of the ladder constructors which promises the world to everyone, yet delivers misery to the many. The 1% who climb to the top do so at the cost of the 99% who lie strewn in their wake, deflated, empty, and abandoned to their fate.
In the face of such injustice and harm the Bible prophetically kicks away the ladders and gives the lie to seductions of ladder climbing and ladder making. Seen through a biblical lens Alexandra Bircken’s Deflated Bodies portrays the horrific cost and the appalling waste of the thinking which blighted our world then and which continues to do so now. It makes plain all that God desires us to subvert and overthrow.
Looking at these deflated figures pitifully draped across the ladders and hanging forlorn from the rungs one is brought face to face with everything that breaks the heart of God. Here are the ones that Jesus came to save.
Here are the lost, damaged and dispirited ones who gathered around the manger on the strength of a promise.
And to those who have made it to the top, who sit aloof from the carnage below them, Advent brings them down to earth and challenges them to repent of the cost of their privilege and power and to recognise that they too are in fact deflated as people and diminished by every empty life that lies behind them on their way up.
No more should women and men, our sisters and brothers, hang limp and lifeless in our midst from the rungs of oppression and exploitation which God is always doing so much to tear down. This is the narrative of hope and life which takes shape in the darkness and which calls us to the heart of Christmas again. For our own sake and for the sake of others it is a journey we simply have to make. When the ladder climbing stops we are ready to gather around the manger.
Today’s post is contributed by David Perry, a Methodist minister in East Yorkshire in the U.K. A passionate photographer, he is keen to use visual imagery as a way of brining faith alive. He has recently published two new books, Quandary and looking up looking around and looking closely. He blogs at Visual Theology
Several people commented on the prayer that was part of this morning’s post which inspired me to add it to a slide – enjoy!
Last week I started work on my Come to the Manger Advent wreath – more a reflective exercise than an art project but one that I am finding is bearing amazing fruit of redemption and healing.
Last week I set my family round the manger, thinking about all those in my immediate and distant family I want to stand with. I spent a lot of time reflecting on my father whom I originally left out of my photos. I reflected too on those who unexpected deaths still leave gaps in our lives, like Tom’s son Clint and his niece Eileen. I thought about my ancestors and those whose genetics and life journeys shaped me into the person I am. Gratitude welled up and overflowed.
This week I added my friends, those who have journeyed with me some for over 40 years, others whom I have only known for a short time. Others I have never met, like the many that contribute to this blog regularly from around the world – from South Africa, Argentina, Britain, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Lebanon, Canada and the U.S. So many who have encouraged and strengthened me in my journey. In the words of Becca Stevens in her contribution to A Journey Toward Home, redemption frees us from the traps that prevent us from loving God and these are the people who have helped redeem me and whom I have helped redeem.
In this first week of Advent I think in particular of those who have given me hope when life seemed hopeless, those who have believed in me when I could not believe in myself, those who have shone with God’s light when I lived in darkness. I think too of those for whom I have been light, and life. Together we draw close to the manger and stand with the Holy One of God.
The theme for this first week of Advent is hope and it is those who stand round the manger with us who so often give us hope. Who stands with you?
Take some time to reflect on the word hope. Who has given you hope when you felt hopeless? Who has provided light when you lived in darkness? Pause to bring to mind those who have stood with you and given you hope throughout your life journey. Visualize them standing with you around the manger. Offer prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving for them.
Now think about those for whom you have brought hope. Who stands with you because you have held their hands or helped healed their bodies? Offer prayers of gratitude and thanksgiving for them.
Lord you wait for us,
To come and see you.
You wait
to shine light where there is darkness.
to show love where there is hate.
to share peace where there is conflict.
to give hope where there is despair.
Lord you wait for us
To come and see you.
Let us gather round the manger,
to shine your light,
to show your love,
to share your peace,
to give your hope.
Let us come,
and remember what has been fulfilled.
Let us prepare for what must yet be done.
Let us come
to the One who waits to show us love.
Advent has begun. Some of us have decorated our Christmas trees and assembled our nativity sets. This year I have found it rather challenging. Kenneth Bailey’s imagery in Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, of Jesus born in the middle of a family home rather than a stable has caught my attention and I want to begin by inviting you too into a very crowded manger scene and asking you the question we will explore throughout this season: Who is welcome at your manger?
Kenneth Bailey explains, that the Greek word (katalyma or kataluma) translated as inn in Luke 2:7 does not mean a commercial building with rooms for travelers. It’s a guest space, typically the upper room of a common village home.
“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, rich men on camels, probably from Arabia. And 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 people of all nations who long for a place to call home.
The question that stirs in my mind which I have been talking about for the last couple of months is: Who is welcome at the manger? Who else do we invite to this celebration that may otherwise be ignored or excluded. Are the people from Ferguson there – both white and black, are the ebola victims, the people of Syria and Iraq, those who have been forced into prostitution and those who have violated them there? What about those in prison, people of other sexual persuasions, those of other religions, the homeless who find more and more cities shut them out? What about those from whom we are estranged? Do we think there is a place for everyone at the manger? If so how do we extend that invitation so that these people feel welcome?
When I invited you, a couple of months ago, to journey through Advent with us I mentioned that one of the reflections in our new devotional A Journey Toward Home, is on the French custom of santons:
Santons are, literally, “little saints.” Part of a typical French Nöel crèche (Christmas Nativity scene), santons come in work clothes to visit the Holy Family. They bring the Christ Child presents they have made or grown, hunted or sold. They perform or offer simple gestures of thoughtfulness…..
The shepherds summon all Provençal villagers. They bring their unique gifts to honor the newborn child: the baker (or his son) with typical Provençal breads like la banette and le pain Calendal (a round country loaf marked with a cross and baked only at Christmastime), the vegetable merchant, the cheese vendor, the basket maker, the wine grower, the humble woman or man who brings only a bundle of sticks for a fire to keep the baby warm.
A poor old man, who thinks he has nothing to give the Baby, holds his lantern and offers to light the way for others. His gift of thoughtfulness and courtesy earns him a place in the scene.
I love this idea of all our neighbours, those we enjoy and those we don’t want to have anything to do with, clustered around the manger, invited into that place of intimate hospitality with God. 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.
I hope that you will journey through Advent and Christmas with us as we create our own “santons”, santons of words not figures of clay as we imagine together some of the people gathered around the very crowded manger with us. Lets help others to see the embracing love of God for all of humankind in the birth of the child Jesus.
Last year we produced a series of podcasts on the theme Coming Home Uncovering our roots in the Advent story. I enjoyed these so much that I have been listening to them again this year and thought that some of you would enjoy them too and so decided to repost them.
Advent Podcast #1
Story by Christine Sine
Music by Tara Ward, The Opiate Mass and Church of the Beloved
Reflection by Dr. Chelle Stearns, Seattle School of Theology and Psychology Seattle WA
Meditation by Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates. This meditation contains the text for last year’s Advent meditation video Come Home to God
Produced by Ryan Marsh, Church of the Beloved
Listen now:
Or right click this link and save to your computer: Advent Podcast Week One
This is the first of a series of podcasts produced by Ryan Marsh of Church of the Beloved, that will be posted at the beginning of each week of Advent.
The first podcast focuses on the coming of Christ as an infant. This is the first coming that Advent invites us to experience. The remembrance of Jesus coming in the flesh as an infant. It captivates our hearts yet makes few, if any demands on our souls. For many the story is nothing more than a children’s story, a soothing tale that is little more than an add on to the secular celebration of consumption and overindulgence.
As you await the coming of Christ what are you hoping for? Join us each day this week for additional reflections, liturgies and prayers on our theme.
And don’t forget our other Mustard Seed resources including these beautiful prayer cards that we have put together. Your purchase of these resources is one way to help support the Godspace blog and the ministry of Mustard Seed Associates.
We hope that you will also join us next week for our second podcast:
Week Two of Coming Home
Story by Jim and Donna Mathwig
Music by Aaron Strumpel, In Mansions and Church of the Beloved
Reflection by Dr. Dwight Freisen, Seattle School of Theology and Psychology, Seattle WA
Meditation by Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates
Produced by Ryan Marsh, Church of the Beloved
Week Three of Coming Home
Story by Jim and Donna Mathwig
Music by Tracie Whisperly, In Mansions and Church of the Beloved
Reflection by Rev. Karen Ward, All Souls Episcopal Church, Portland, OR
Meditation by Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates
Produced by Ryan Marsh, Church of the Beloved, Edmonds WA
Week Four of Coming Home
Story by Mustard Seed House
Music by Lacey Brown, In Mansions and Church of the Beloved
Reflection by Tom Sine, Mustard Seed Associates
Meditation by Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates
Produced by Ryan Marsh, Church of the Beloved, Edmonds WA
—
Scripture readings: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; 1 Corinthians1:3-9; Mark 13:24-27
Opening Prayer
Here we are again, Lord,
your children at your feet.
May this be a blessed time,
a precious time,
a getting-to-know-you-better time,
a family time,
Here we are again Lord;
bless us as we meet.
Adoration
A light shines
through the darkness,
and hope comes to those
who wait patiently
for their salvation
to be revealed.
For your promises
will be fulfilled
both in this world
and in the next.
Human wisdom
withers away,
but your word,
once received,
endures eternally.
Confession
Here is a fire
within our hearts
ignited by your love and grace.
which we carry with us
on our walk with you:
Forgive us
when that flame is dampened
by the temptations
of the day.
By your Spirit’s breath
revive us.
Lord of light and life,
we pray.
Thanksgiving
In this season
of Advent and expectation,
may the lives we live
and the words we speak
be focused on thanksgiving,
even if this world,
as in days gone by,
would rather choose to ignore your coming.
Let our witness and testimony
be a compass,
pointing toward a different
and altogether more glorious destination.
Today’s prayers are written by John Birch and are published in his excellent new book The Act of Prayer: Praying Through the Lectionary. which contains over 700 lectionary linked prayers. Used with permission
Our invitation to shape Advent this year around the theme Who Will You Invite to the Manger? is bearing fruit. Emma Morgan at Eastern Hills Community Church in Sydney Australia has shaped their Advent services around this theme and I thought that some of you too might be inspired by what she has put together. All images are from life at Eastern Hills Community Church.
Weekly Advent Nativity Activity – Santons in the Church and Home.
Each week we will bring a Nativity scene, made from fabric and paper mache figures of Christ’s family and other figures of different ages.
Each week the church community will add new objects of welcome to the scene as part of the ‘Santons in the church prayer activity’. Each week the community will take home a print out of the ‘santons in the home’ prayer activity.
Introduction to read in church for the ‘Santons’ prayer activity
There is a traditional French custom in which santons ‘little saints’ from the local village are placed in a traditional Nativity scene. The little saints come wearing their work clothes to visit the Holy family. They bring the Christ child presents they have made or grown, hunted or sold. They perform of offer simple gestures of thoughtfulness. The shepherds summon all the villagers.
The baker brings a special loaf marked with a cross baked only at Christmas time, the vegetable merchant, soap maker, cheese vendor, and wine grower bring their produce. The grandmother has knitted socks for baby Jesus and a woman brings soup for Mary’s recovery. A gypsy often despised as a thief brings her baby and a tamborine to sing to Jesus. The humble boy brings only a bundle of sticks for a fire to keep the baby warm. A poor old man, who thinks he has nothing to give the Baby, holds his lantern and offers to light the way for others. Santons come from all occupations and all classes of society, all ages of people, are represented.
Each week as we gather in worship we will reflect on whom we welcome to manger, who we invite to share in this good news. As we leave this place into everyday lives we will bring a unique offering of thanks to God from our humble week. We are all shepherds of welcome, we are all santons with a gift to bring.
Advent Week 1 – Nov 30 – Keep Awake
Reading: Mark 13:24-37
Santons in the church Advent week 1:
Leader brings a fruit bowl and place in manger scene. Provide a small piece of plasticine for each person and print ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
All times of the day are sacred. Our reading from Mark today talks of the possibility of God returning at any possible moment; Evening, midnight, before dawn or in the morning. This reminds us of the meals of the day, the times where we reach for a cup of water or tea. God is alongside us, working out his purposes in all moments, resting with us when we eat and drink.
This is the first week of our ‘santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we ask ourselves ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ We will begin our Nativity scene by inviting those close to our heart, people in our family or close friends. Those we might share a meal with.
We ask the Spirit to remind us of someone close to our heart – a family member or close friend who we want to bring to this manger of hope. Consider them as you make a piece of fruit from the plasticine and place it in the bowl here at the manger. As you make this fruit you are praying welcome for them.
Santons in the Home Advent week 1: Offer a meal to God this week. Be mindful and prayerful as you prepare it or purchase it for yourself or others. May it be a blessing to those close to your heart. May they know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with every mouthful.
To read at home: 1 Corinth 1:1-9.
Advent Week 2 – Dec 7 – New Things
Reading: Mark 1:1-8
Santons in the Church Advent week 2:
Leader brings a dish or large cup and place in manger scene. Provide a plastic shot glass of water for each person and print ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
It is hard to imagine the coming of Jesus and the Holy Spirit into our human experience, into our history. Our reading from Mark today shows us that such an amazing new thing was announced by a wild and wonderful man. He offered one type of cleansing but Jesus and the Spirit were about to bring something altogether new.
This is the second week of our ‘santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we ask ourselves ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ Today we add to our nativity scene by inviting those who may be new to our lives or those who aren’t so new but where a new relationship might be growing. People God may be drawing us closer to.
We ask the Spirit to remind us of a new relationship in our lives that we want to bring to this manger of hope. Consider them as you pour some water into this cup here at the manger. As you pour this water you are praying welcome for them.
Santons in the Home Advent week 2
Offer a drink to God this week, be mindful and prayerful as you pour it, bottle it or buy it for yourself or others. May it be a blessing to a new relationship in your life. May they know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with every sip.
To read at home: Psalm 85:1-2,8-13.
Advent week 3 – Dec 14 – Hope here with us
Reading: John 1:6-28
Santons in the Church Advent week 3:
Leader brings a basket and places it in the manger scene. Provide a small flower for each person and print ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
Gods ways of love and provision spring up gently around us. Our reading from John today shows us that through the daily kindness of Jesus we saw the truth of God. Daily we see the truth and provision of God, in kindness, in faithfulness and service.
This is the third week of our ‘santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we ask ourselves ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ Today we add to our nativity scene by inviting those from our daily life who serve us with kindness and faithfulness. Our trolley pushers, our coffee pourers, our librarians, our teachers, farmers and check-out workers. People who bless us in service.
We ask the Spirit to remind us of someone who serves us that we may take for granted, who we want to bring to this manger of hope. Consider them as you place a flower in this basket here at the manger. As you place the flower you are praying welcome for them.
Santons in the Home Advent week 3
Offer a good thing from your life to God this week. It might be books from the library, a coffee, nice fruit, a full wardrobe, a good education. Consider this thing, be mindful and prayerful as you enjoy it and be open to how you might bless those who made it possible for you to enjoy it. May it be a blessing to a person who serves in your life. May they know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with your appreciation.
To read at home: Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11.
Advent week 4 – Dec 21 – A song I sing
Reading: Luke 1:47-55.
Santons in the Church Advent Week 4
Leader brings a violin case or instrument case and place it in the manger scene. Provide a small piece of paper with “Then He appeared and the Soul felt it’s worth” written on it for each person and print of ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
We worship a God of justice. Our reading from Luke today is a song that shows us that God brings mercy to everyone who worships Him. God uses his power to bring justice from high places and thrones to low places where there is hunger and thirst. We rejoice in being a part of this song of love in the world.
This is the fourth week of our ‘Santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we ask ourselves ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ Today we add to our nativity scene by inviting those on our hearts who thirst for God’s justice and provision. People who feel forgotten, estranged, desperate, unable to manage.
We ask the Spirit to remind us of someone or some people who need God’s mercy, welcome and justice. Consider them as you place a song here in the violin case at the manger. As you bring the song you are praying welcome for them.
Santons in the Home Advent Week 4
Offer a song to God this week, be mindful and prayerful as you listen to it, sing it or write it. May it be a moment that draws yourself and those who you pray justice for into God’s presence. Listen to anything God sings back to you. May they know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with every note.
To read at home: Psalm 89:1-18
Christmas Day – Dec 25 – Here is Peace
Reading: Luke 2:1-20
Santons in the Church Christmas Day
Leader brings a cloth and place it in the manger scene. Provide a small piece of paper cut out as a person and a pen for each person and print of ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
Our reading from Luke today is a noisy, smelly and colourful gathering around the birth of a child. The shepherds considered outcasts, exhausted family and animals all gathered in wonder, surprise and confusion around this tiny baby, this fragile gift to the universe.
This is the fifth week of our ‘santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we have been asking ourselves ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ To this place of hope. Today we add to our nativity scene by bringing ourselves. We come here to celebrate something we will never fully understand but something we desire to draw close to in some way anyhow.
We ask the Spirit to take our wonder and blessings to God this morning as we draw a picture of ourselves. Bring this picture of you and place it on the cloth at the manger. Everyone is welcome, from the angels to the animals to the birth of something wonderful.
Santons in the Home Christmas Week
Offer God your arms this week. Arms that are perhaps tired from all the responsibilities of this season.
Be mindful and prayerful as you sit for a moment with your arms at rest. Picture all the people your arms have to care for or things they have to do for others. Be open to God’s blessing and arms holding you.
May you know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with every breath.
Read: Hebrews 2:5-12
Christmas 1 – Dec 28 – Lights
Reading: Luke 2:22-40
Santons in the Church Christmas 1
Leader brings a book cover and place it in the manger scene. Provide a small piece of paper that fits in the book and a pen for each person and print ‘Santons in the home’ for each person.
Jesus with us causes some to fall, some to kneel and some to stand. Our reading from Luke today shows us the amazing faith of our Christian family. A people who have been passing down to us all that they have seen of God with their own eyes. The bible and other writings of faithful Christians are a treasure for us. A light to us.
This is the sixth and final week of our ‘santon’ Nativity scene. As a church community we have been asking ourselves, ‘Who do we welcome to the manger?’ Today we finish our nativity scene by bringing saints of the past and present who have been faithful in passing on God’s word to us. We ask the Spirit to remind us of someone or some people who have been teachers and role models to us in our Christian journey. Those who have shown us how to follow Jesus, who have encouraged us.
Consider them as you write their name or draw them on a page and place it here at the manger. As you place the page here in the book you are praying blessing and thanks for those who have welcomed you here, to this place of hope.
Santons in the Home Christmas 1
Offer a time of reading to God this week, be mindful and prayerful as you set some time apart to read a passage or part of a book that has been an encouragement to your faith in the past. May it be a moment that draws you into God’s presence and brings you close to the Saints who been light to you. Be open to where your light may shine this week. May the Earth know that Christ is near, Hope is near, Love is near with every star above them.
To read at home: Psalm 148.
As an Amazon Associate, I receive a small amount for purchases made through appropriate links.
Thank you for supporting Godspace in this way.
When referencing or quoting Godspace Light, please be sure to include the Author (Christine Sine unless otherwise noted), the Title of the article or resource, the Source link where appropriate, and ©Godspacelight.com. Thank you!