For the last couple of years I have posted prayers, often with photo images, on Facebook. Now we have some of the most popular available as prayer cards. I have a set on a small easel on my desk. Each morning I change the card. It gives me a great focus for moments of prayer throughout the day. We specially chose the photos so that they draw you into the prayer and hopefully a deeper experience of God’s presence. They are also great as bookmarks or can be sent as post cards. Their purchase is also a great way to support the ministry of Mustard Seed Associates of which this blog is a part.
This last week I had someone ask me about creating an Advent prayer garden. As many of you already know I love creative ideas, and this one really stirred my imagination. I am a little sick of Advent wreaths, maybe not in church where I love to see each new candle on the wreath lit at the beginning of each Advent service, but at home I found I wanted something a little different. So I put my thinking cap on and here is the result.
This post is adapted from one I wrote a couple of years ago for Christ the King Sunday.
What Kind of king do we celebrate – Icon – jesus heals the blind man
Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday the liturgical year. I must confess it is not a celebration that is very much on my radar screen and this year with it falling the week of American Thanksgiving, I have given it even less attention. I thought that this celebration must date from the Middle Ages, but discovered recently that Pope Pius XI added it in 1925. He intended it as a day to celebrate and remember Christ’s kingship over all creation, as well as to remind us that all humankind must submit to Christ’s rule.
As you can imagine, this celebration, especially in recent years, been a somewhat controversial day among those Christians who consider the language of kingship outdated or oppressive. For many, the images of kings and kingdoms conjure up thoughts of tyrants. But the kingship of Jesus takes on a very different form than does the kingship of earthly rulers. He came as a vulnerable infant and carried that vulnerability into his kingship of servanthood as we hear in this, my favourite “kingship” song.
Jesus comes to us not as a great conquering military leader who oppresses and abuses the conquered. Rather, he comes as a servant king, the Prince of Peace, the One whose reign proclaims peace, justice, liberation, and above all, service. Jesus turned the whole concept of lordship and kingship on its head:
You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to become great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:42-45, NAB).
Images of God, as Lord and King seem foreign in a democratic, individualistic society. But our all-powerful God, is also all-loving, and all-merciful. God’s heart aches to once more be in a loving relationship with his creatures. This is what Christ’s kingship is all about. We must submit to Jesus as our Lord and King, but it is a submission that paradoxically brings with it liberation, freedom from sin and a life of wholeness for us, for others and for God’s world.
I love this powerful image of Jesus as King and the kingdom of God as a place of hope that Foy Vance gives us here:
Jesus knew the popular images of kings and lords and redefined them. In God’s resurrection world, in order to be a ruler of all, Jesus must become a servant of all. Jesus demonstrated this servanthood in his life and miracles. Even the Incarnation is an example of this: God the Son, King of all creation, humbled himself to become human, even sharing the ultimate fate of his captive subjects: death.
Interestingly, most references to Jesus as king occur during the Passion story. The symbol of Christ’s kingship is not a crown but a cross. The Son of God became human and died a horrible death on the cross to release his subjects from captivity. The One who is the true king of our world made this ultimate sacrifice out of his deep and abiding love for the world, a world constantly in rebellion against him. Christ’s kingship is not like a king with a jewel-encrusted crown in purple finery on a gold throne wielding an oppressive rod of iron. Rather, he is the crucified God with a crown of thorns hanging half naked on a cross of shame to set us free from our bondage.
No collection for Christ the King Sunday is complete without this inspiring description of Christ the King of Kings by SM Lockridge.
Here is a prayer that I wrote a couple of years ago for Christ the King Sunday:
Let us praise Jesus Christ our king
for the wonderful things he has done.
He sends out his word to heal us.
He satisfies the thirsty with the water of life.
He fills the hungry with the abundance of his kingdom.
Let us praise Jesus, redeemer and renewer of all things.
May we always trust in his goodness and love,
And have faith in his grace and mercy,
May we always believe he cares about justice and righteousness,
And draw our life from his eternal purposes.
Let us praise Jesus Christ our king and saviour,
May we be filled with the hope and promise of his coming,
And give our lives to follow him.
May we be gripped by his kingdom ways,
And walk with assurance and trust into his grace and peace.
Other Resources for Christ the King Sunday
The Stop the Madness: Return to Our Senses retreat is over. In preparation for the day I set up prayer stations around the house so that participants could have private spaces to reflect and focus on God. It is something you might want to consider as a way to help you focus too. Thinking about how to design these so that there were a variety of ways to connect to God and story of God inspired and encouraged my own walk towards Advent.
My favourite was the Advent prayer garden I created – but more about that tomorrow.
One of the stations included our olive wood nativity from Jerusalem. One participant commented that he normally hates to sit and reflect in silence but that having the pieces that he could touch, pick up and rearrange provided an experience that really spoke to him. It made me realize how often we limit people’s ability to enter into an experience of God because we only provide a few ways in which to interact with God. Discovering our own unique way of interacting with God is essential if we want to grow in our faith.
Olive wood nativity
The highlight of the retreat for all of us was the sharing time at the end of each session. Listening to each other stirred our imaginations and created some wonderful new ways for all of us to enter into the season. One person suggested starting Advent early at American Thanksgiving adding to the traditional themes of love, joy, hope and peace with another week focused on gratitude and thankfulness. This idea inspired all of us, and Tom and I have committed to this new practice for our lives.
Advent prayer station
Another suggestion was making Advent wreaths out of palm prints. I suggested using kids palm prints but one couple piped up and said “Why not palm prints from grandparents?” to send to our grandkids.
A third suggestion was using St Nicholas Day as a time to share Christmas goodies with your neighbours. One participant has done this for years. Now their neighbours are waiting excitedly for the visit often with gifts of their own.
The creative possibilities for celebrating this season are endless. Set up your own prayer station, take some time to reflect and stir your imagination to create new and meaningful ways to celebrate Advent and Christmas without getting caught up in the consumer frenzy.
Celtic cross and Advent cards for reflection
Today’s post comes from Michelle Ruetschle who lives and works in Manila with her husband Steve.
I confess that I am somewhat at a loss for words as I come to the blank page. I am writing from the ease of an arm chair, in a dry and spacious room, in our home in Manila. Not so very far away are the horrifying scenes being broadcast daily and hourly across newspapers and televisions around the world. We give, we pray, we organize relief efforts, but mostly, we feel guilty and helpless, drifting in and out of an awareness of suffering.
Last year around this time, we flew down to Tacloban, visiting a school and ministry there which now no longer has a roof. From there we drove several hours to Samar, to a small resort along the ocean. I fear that almost nothing of that resort, with its traditionally styled huts, remains.
As I hold the beauty of the memory alongside current events, I think on a reality that always exists, but that in recent days has landed more viscerally near to me. It is that bittersweet flavor of “already, not yet” that seasons all of our days, but is especially pungent during tragedy. These words are often used to describe the kingdom of God, a kingdom that is here and yet is not fully arrived. The words are a paradox, holding a mystery. “Already,” is the statement of faith, whose eyes can see the coming glory. We look at the present with those eyes, full of hope and trust, eagerly gathering up the abounding evidence, the shining scraps of beauty and magnificence strewn across the planet and scrawled across our human experience, traces so delicious they herald a living, loving God. We taste with our mouths the sweetness and believe that there is more. But then, there is the “not yet.” Replete with longing, the words acknowledge what we unwillingly swallow alongside the sweet, the bitter taste of senseless suffering, of selfish action, of outright evil in our world. Tasting it, we are forced to acknowledge that in our material realm all is not well.
Romans 8:22 says that all creation groans as if in the pangs of childbirth. It is not a static image but rather one of process. There is a fully developed and glorious child, but until the birthing is complete, we cannot hold it in our arms and smell the sweetness of its head or touch the softness of its skin or feel the warmth of its breath. There is movement on the inside that reassures us of its presence. We touch our bellies, and watch them expand with the certainty of the child’s arrival. And yet that beautiful outcome is brought forth with pain, a pain that is borne more easily because of the hope that what is at its end, its very purpose, is beautiful.
Just as the broader picture of the world is one of beauty and suffering mixed together – “already, not yet” – so our own lives reflect that reality as well. For Steve and I, we glory in the healing that he has, a taste of something beautiful, something more, while we also live with the daily reminders of what remains broken, of weakness and pain. You live it, too. We all do.
Faith is a hope in what we cannot see, that there is an “already” that lives alongside the “not yet”. We look at the evidence and believe that all will be made right, that one day something complete and miraculous and wonderful will come forth from our labors and the labors of the earth. When suffering challenges us, we are forced to dwell in the longing and trust that the process is not without meaning and purpose. Faith becomes especially strong here, where we cannot see, but still choose hope.
Today, we acknowledge the “not yet” for the southern Philippines, in the dead bodies and in the loss of homes and in the utter destruction. The “not yet” resounds in the images we see, but it will have deeper and darker echoes in the lives of those who truly suffered the loss. Groans are inarticulate. They acknowledge that we cannot in and of ourselves neatly explain what transpires. With gratitude, we can find and gather up the scraps of the “already” amidst the rubble, where beauty can be found, in love, in help, and in prayers answered. Where we can, we add our own sweetness to the mix. Mostly, however, as believers we can only submit ourselves to the process, trusting that as we groan alongside our brothers and sisters, we are borne together toward an ultimate outcome that is good.
My final Advent/Christmas resource list is for a Blue Christmas celebration an increasingly popular celebration at this season
For many this season is anything but cheerful, even when we have not had to put up with non stop Christmas music for days before hand. For all of us who have lost loved ones for whom we still grieve , lost a job, are struggling financially or with illness this not an easy season. And for those who have lost their houses and livelihoods due to the devastation of Hurricane Haiyan, the bushfires in Australia and other disasters this year, the season will probably be anything but cheerful, so why do we try to cover our pain and grief with Yuletide cheer?
Many churches have begun to recognize that Festivals of Carols, celebrations of Christmas, and children’s pageants do not meet everyone’s needs. To fill this gap churches offer a Blue Christmas service, a Service of Solace or Longest Night. People who are not having a very merry Christmas and friends who support them are invited to come and sit with one another in a liturgy that speaks of the love of God for the grieving.
First I have written my own prayer to help me through this season as I continue to grieve the loss of my mother.
On this long dark night we await the coming of Christ.
We long for the light of his presence,
With us and in us.
When our souls are deeply troubled,
and our hearts break with the weight of sorrow,
may our grief be seasoned with love,
and our sorrow be buoyed by hope.
In our our times of God-forsakenness and estrangement,
May we gaze on the innocent One,
made perfect through suffering.
and see in him our vulnerable God,
who saves in weakness and pain.
May our suffering empty us of pride,
and lead us to true joy,
our only security,
in Christ the infinite depths
of God’s grace.
Here are some great resources that could help if you want to plan or participate in a Blue Christmas service:
Text of the Week has some great resources for planning a Blue Christmas service. (scroll down the Advent resources until you get to Blue Christmas).
I particularly enjoyed this service from the United Methodist Church
re:Worship always has great resources and this list for Blue Christmas does not disappoint.
This site has some good song resources for your Blue Christmas celebration
I also like this simple but powerful Blue Christmas Service and the ideas for how to use it.
Another good outline for a Blue Christmas service.
This powerful liturgy was originally published in Candles and Conifers.
And this beautiful Liturgy of Remembrance for Advent and Christmas.
Let me end with this beautiful prayer by Ted Loder which appears in Guerrilas of Grace
O God of all seasons and senses,
grant us the sense of your timing
to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the seasons.In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of endings;
children growing, friends leaving, loved ones dying,
grieving over,
grudges over,
blaming over,
excuses over.O God, grant us a sense of your timing.
In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth what is ready to be born—
something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love—
in the fullness of your time.O God, grant us the sense of your timing.
This post is out of date, please see our latest resource here.
Establishing Christmas traditions
It’s time to update my Advent for Kids list. Obviously there are thousands of possibilities out there. I hope you find these helpful.
Last year I posted 10 Ways to Help Kids Give Back At Christmas which I highly recommend to you as you think about how to celebrate the season with your family. However Christmas is more than gift giving and I wanted to make sure that the other resources I recommend are updated too. These are some of the best resources that I have found.
1. Make an Advent wreath with your kids. This is a fun activity that prepares your child for this important season in the Christian calendar. This site has some great ideas for making an Advent wreath with kids . And here is another great Advent wreath idea from children’s handprints.
2. Start a new Advent tradition that revolves around the lighting of the Advent candles. Use your Advent wreath as a centerpiece . Every night at dinner, let one of your children light the candle and say an advent prayer or sing a song. As you become more comfortable with this tradition you may also like to tell stories from past Advent celebrations or about the story of Christ and what he means to you and your family. Alternatively have the youngest child light the candle the first week, the oldest the second week, the mother on the third and the father on the fourth.
3. Make or buy an Advent calendar. I love the suggestion from the post Celebrating Advent with Children to make an Advent calendar with matchboxes and placing slips of paper in each one with different activities to do each day. For example, one day you might read a particular book or Bible passage, make Christmas cookies for a lonely neighbor, or sing Christmas carols together. A couple of years ago MSA Board member Jill Aylard Young put together this Advent in A Jar resource which is still available through the MSA site. Another possibility is this recycle bin Advent calendar – what a great way to introduce kids to the season and to the need to be more responsible.The combination of inward reflection and outward caring is wonderful.
Countdown Christmas Traditions also has a fun kid friendly Advent calendar. As you click on each day of Advent you read about traditions in different countries of the world.
CAFOD: Just One world has some great Advent liturgies available as well as a downloadable Advent calendar for kids.
4. Set up a nativity set. There are several ways that this can focus your child on the real meaning of Christmas. Set it up with the manger empty and the wise men at the other end of the room or house. Throughout the Advent and Christmas season the wise men move closer to the manager and of course on Christmas morning the Christ child appears in the manger.
5. The nativity set is a great way to focus your children on gifts for Jesus too. You might like to consider some of the suggestions in my post from a couple of days ago 10 Ways to Help Kids Give Back At Christmas. Or you might like to consider this idea. On the first Sunday of Advent, each child in the family receives an empty manger. An oatmeal box covered with bright paper will do as well. At bedtime, the children draw straws for each kind deed performed in honor of Baby Jesus as his birthday surprise. The straw are placed in the child’s manger or box daily. It is amazing how much love a child can put into Advent when s/he is preparing for his redeemer’s coming in grace. On Christmas, each child finds an infant in his manger, placed on a small table or a chair beside his or her bed. Usually it is a tiny doll, beautifully dressed. This custom fills the child with a longing in Advent, and provides an image of the redeemer as the first happy glance in the morning and the last impression at night during the entire Christmas season.
6. Explore Christmas traditions from around the world with your kids and discuss the possibility of adapting some of these as part of your own celebration during the Advent and Christmas season. Christmas Around the World has a wonderful description of traditions from a variety of countries that you might like to discuss. The Worldwide Gourmet has a wonderful array of recipes associated with the Advent and Christmas season in many different parts of the world. Just reading through some of these had my mouth watering.
7. Memories for the New Year – Reflect on the previous year and capture children’s memories that can become part of your family and church story. Capture these on camera, draw pictures, write songs or have older children journal. I love this idea from the United Methodist Communications. You might also like to check out some of the resources they suggest. (I have not had time to do this yet.)
- Christmas Gifts That Won’t Break: An Advent Study for Children
- A Different Kind of Christmas: Living and Giving Like Jesus (children’s study)
- Pockets, devotional magazine for children
- Celebrating Advent in the Home
- Children’s Activities for the Christian Year
More resources for celebrating as a family here.
8. Separate Gift Giving From Christmas Day. When I was on the mercy ship Anastasis, we always celebrated St Nicholas day. I think that this is a wonderful tradition that can separate the celebration of Christ’s birth from the giving of gifts. Our friends Ricci and Eliacin celebrate another tradition where the giving of gifts is associated with the coming of the wise men on the Eve of Epiphany.
There are obviously many other ways to celebrate Advent with kids – we are only limited by our imaginations and by the imaginations of our children who are likely to come up with far better ideas than we ever could. So if you have creative ways of celebrating during this season I would love to hear from you.
9. Check out other resources:
Family Advent customs I liked this list because it incorporated customs, recipes and projects to do as a family.
Domestic church.com has some great links and offerings for kids of all ages as well as families in its fridge art section
And Paperless Christmas in the U.K has some wonderful (and quirky) videos for introducing kids to the Advent and Christmas story.
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