by June Friesen
CHRIST COMES FOR EVERY HEART, INCLUDING THE LONELY HEART
As I have celebrated Christmas over the years, I have observed that for some it is a time of sadness. We talk about hope, we talk about love, we talk about joy and we talk about peace yet how is it for the one who is lonely this Christmas. It is easy to give what I call an ‘unfeeling answer’ and then try to change the subject. It may be difficult to listen to the memories shared through tears. It may be difficult to embrace the broken spirit of one whose grief is fresh. It may be difficult to not try to quiet them as they remember those special moments, those special foods, those special family gatherings and so much more. Yet as I think of the birth of Jesus that is the focus of the Christian Christmas I begin to think about Mary and Joseph and how they may have really felt that at the birth of their baby. What were the emotions that they were feeling?
Let me share from Luke 2:1-7:
1-5 About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David’s town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. 6-7 While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.
What was Joseph feeling as he was becoming a new father and could not even find a room to give his wife privacy? He could not find a bed for her to lie down upon. And besides that, she did not have her mother to help her nor anyone else as she gave birth to her very first baby. All he could find was shelter in a barn/cave. How empty must Joseph’s heart have felt? How lonely he must have felt not only for himself but also for Mary?
What was Mary feeling? Her husband had to (or at least chose to) take her away from her family and friends when she was ready to give birth any day. Why did she choose to go? Why did she not insist on staying home with her mother? Or why had she not insisted that her mother come along? Or maybe could it have been that her mother was no longer alive?
Yes, my friends, into this scenario Jesus enters this world to be known as the Son of God and the son of Mary. There had to have been many mixed feelings that night.
No doubt there was frustration, fear, anxiety, maybe even some anger and tears. Loneliness also was no doubt a huge factor. Yet when we choose to celebrate the Christmas story in our homes or churches most often, we choose to concentrate on the festivity of the season, the glorious celebration of the birth of a Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord.
How do you and I respond to a Christmas celebration if we are finding ourselves alone? Maybe, but not always are we truly by ourself as there may be family, friends and/or other people around? How do we respond to someone who spent last Christmas with their loved one(s) beside them? How do we respond to someone who may be spending their last Christmas with a loved one who is now on hospice care? How do we respond to someone whose loved one has dementia and is not aware of what is being celebrated? Possibly the loved one is not able to open their own gift/gifts? Possibly they do not understand what is happening at all? Possibly there is a child who has been born with disabilities so it cannot comprehend the celebration? How do we respond to the person who has a family member incarcerated? How do we respond if we are the one who has a loved one incarcerated (often they are not near enough to visit if one chose to do so). I have found myself in some of these situations – sometimes they are easier to face than others.
Yes, I find myself in the midst of wondering, how is it that I can offer support to those who struggle in one way or another with this season? Do I get so focused on my own life, my own family, my own way of celebrating that I fail to reach out a hand to the broken because it is not a brokenness I understand. Or maybe it is a brokenness that I do not want to or care to understand? Over the years I have been challenged to reach out and care for others in one way or another. And yes, I have been faced with some of these challenges in my own life as well.
When our children were growing we did not have immediate family near by. One way that we practiced teaching them to care for others who may be lonely was to invite several single people (often from a care center – widows/widowers/never married) over for a Christmas meal. We would try to give them some small gift that would be useful to them. Before covid we often entertained many people on Christmas Day. We had refugees from different countries, homeless, family members, and friends as well as people brought along that we did not know until that day. We also had people from other faiths/religions and we always had a delightful time. My husband still likes to tell of how an Afghani family brought a rice pudding and our refugees from the Congo remarked – this is just like we make in our home and we also did in our home in the Congo. Friendships and connections were built and continue to this day.
Joseph and Mary were alone – no doubt needing food brought. There may have been tears shed that day there in Bethlehem as well – some of loneliness as they were alone. We are not even sure that Mary’s mother and father were still living – maybe her heart was happy with the birth of her child – yet maybe there was a loneliness as well.
Today I do not know where you may find yourself this holiday season. If you are feeling alone, if you have lost someone special – maybe this writing will give you a moment to reflect and embrace the one(s) you do not have with you this season.
THE EMPTY STOCKING
Today I looked at the stockings
Hanging one by one on the mantle –
They hung just as they had for many years –
Yet, one seemed shrouded, somehow.
As I continued my gaze, I pondered
The trinkets I had bought
To fill each one –
All chosen with thought and pleasure.
I remember that day I had found
One thing I knew you would have treasured –
I held it tenderly in my hands – then drew it towards my heart.
The tears began to form – then tumble silently down my cheeks
As I remembered you would not be here this year
To delight in this treasure so dear.
I struggled within – should I buy it?
What will I do with it?
It was then I decided – yes – I would,
And I would put it in that stocking – yes I would.
Tonight, as I fill the stockings – not one will be empty –
And I will allow the memories of Christmases past
To come and bathe this heart of mine with love.
And each year as I hand your stocking I will fill it with a special memory;
And therein you will continue to be a part of my Christmas year after year.
“I love you.”
June Friesen 2008
When I wrote this it was a gift for someone who I knew was having a hard time the first holiday season their loved one was not with them. As I read it recently, and pondered it I realize how for me there have been Christmases too that I have felt ‘lonely’ for some family member/friend who was not with us in person because of death, moving away from family due to job, or unable to travel because of lack of resources or even because of incarceration. I have to admit that some of these words still bring some of those memories to mind – and a tear or two forms….and maybe even drops…..it is okay. Mary may have shed a tear or two or more as she ‘pondered things in her heart,’ – — my friend – it was for these tears (and so many other reasons) that our Jesus was born so long ago. Jesus loves you, Jesus loves your loved one(s) – that is why He came – because He loved each one of us so much. Amen.
Writing and photos by June Friesen. Scriptures are from The Message translation.
Celtic Prayer Cards include 10 prayers inspired by ancient Celtic saints like Patrick or contemporary Celtic writers like John O’Donohue. A short reflection on the back of each card will introduce you to the Celtic Christian tradition, along with prayers by Christine Sine and beautiful imagery crafted by Hilary Horn. Celtic Prayer Cards can be used year-round or incorporated into various holidays. Available in a single set of 10 cards, three sets, or to download.
by Christine Sine
I am in the midst of an orgy of Christmas baking so that I can entertain friends lavishly and have enough to send packages to friends and family. I already made two batches of shortbread, and Melissa Nagy’s delicious lemon bars. On Saturday the delicious aroma of my fruit cake permeated the kitchen as I mixed together the ingredients that have soaked for 4 weeks in preparation for the day. Next will be Lesly Earp’s Fresh Lemon Loaf and Emily Huff’s Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies which both sound as though they will travel well in packages. My cheese ball with pesto and dried tomato will not be far behind. All of these come from the Godspacelight Community Cookbook, though I must confess I snuck in another couple of favourites from other sources – a pecan slice from my Australian Womens’ Weekly Cookbook and Chocolate Ginger cookies that I discovered in the AARP magazine. This kind of baking is very relaxing for me, and it is a joy for me to prepare for hospitality in this way.
Lemon bars from Godspacelight Community Cookbook
Baking is always an activity filled with joy for me so fitting for this third weekend of Advent. Yesterday was the third Sunday of traditional Advent and we lit the pink Joy candle at church. It is pink because rose is a liturgical color for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.
As I baked over the weekend I reflected on the joy of the season and what it means to me. I imagined Mary and Joseph journeying towards Bethlehem, her heavily pregnant, him a concerned and anxious father to be, probably filled with a mixture of joy at seeing family and anxiety as to what kind of reception they might receive. I am sure those emotions travelled with others heading home for the Census too. There was probably a lot of resentment at the journey that was forced upon them, a dangerous journey too. Ninety miles of travel through country infested with wild beasts and bandits. However I suspect there was also a lot of joy. Maybe they all sat around campfires at night telling stories. Perhaps Mary and Joseph got to share their own story of angelic visitors and unexpected pregnancies. Did the other mothers in the caravan embrace Mary and share tips on how best to prepare for the birth? Or were they ostracized because Mary conceived out of wedlock and in the minds of some should have been stoned? Then they arrive in Bethlehem. What kind of reception did they receive from family and friends?
This third week of Advent and its emphasis on joy always revolves around hospitality for me. My own extension of hospitality through baking, but also through giving and reaching out to others not as fortunate as myself. That I see as the crux of the Advent story. And I wonder about the hospitality or lack there of extended towards Mary and Joseph. Was Jesus born in a stable, or as I think more likely, born in a home and welcomed hospitably by Joseph’s family? In a previous post Stable or Home and Why Does it Matter? I commented:
The question is, “To where will we welcome him?” Do we really want him moving into our homes or is easier to relegate him to the stable, to see him as an outsider, not really part of the family? Seeing Jesus in an out-of-the-way place where disreputable people like shepherds can come to worship without us having to worry about them messing up our homes makes life easy for us. We get that glow that tells us Jesus is here, but there is very little commitment required of us.
As we journey through this third week of Advent consider where you find joy and where you extend joy to others. Who do you exclude from your circle of joyful welcome? Our world seems to specialize in marginalized people like the shepherds and the Magi. There are so many opportunities for us to extend hospitality to strangers and the unacceptable. Who are you willing to invite into your home to share the joyous good news of Jesus coming?
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taizé from St Andrew Episcopal church in Seattle. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756.
“Watching, Waiting, Hoping”
Music and Lyrics by Kester Limner, shared under the Creative Commons License, Attribution (CC-BY)
This piece was originally posted on The Ecological Disciple on December 1, 2022 and can be found here.
I wonder if this Advent, those of us in more comfortable places who have much within our grasp: relative affluence, security and power, might think less about our own need for hope and more about being agents of hope to others.
Hope, the traditional first theme of Advent, is a recurring topic right now. Hope—or our lack thereof—is a common strain of conversation in this time of political division, global threats, and climate challenges. Although I am touched by all the aforementioned problems, for the most part, it is others (both human and nonhuman) who are experiencing the brunt of these realities. I am part of a population that is less likely to be targeted for physical harm, possesses ample material resources, and lives in a part of the world less vulnerable to rising seas and spreading deserts.
When I think of those being targeted for violence because of their sexual orientation, being bombed for living in a place that a neighboring country wants to claim, or losing their homes and habitats under rising water from causes they themselves have little or no responsibility for, I rethink what it means to lack hope. Hope becomes more difficult when you are powerless.
I wonder if, this Advent, those of us in more comfortable places and who have relative affluence, security, and power, might think less about our own need for hope and more about being agents of hope for others. For followers of Jesus, this has always been a core call of discipleship and is a mindset worth cultivating.
This hope I am talking about is not a blithe reassurance that there is nothing amiss but is instead a hope modeled on Jesus’ way of delivering hope, “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted/to proclaim freedom for the captives/and release from darkness for the prisoners/to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor…” (Isaiah 61).
Below, I offer some thoughts on ways we can offer hope, not by just announcing a light at the end of the tunnel, but by doing what we can to create that light at the end of the tunnel and to make the tunnel less dark. I include images from the highly regarded Japanese stencil artist Sadao Watanabe, who lived from 1913-1996 and created hundreds of large and small stenciled portrayals of biblical stories, in particular, stories from Jesus’ life. He used traditional methods as well as traditional materials of organic and mineral pigments in soybean milk.
GOOD NEWS TO THE SHEPHERDS, 羊飼いへの御告, 1979, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON WASHI
When we have a vision that directs us, it can imbue our circumstances with meaning, and enable us to move through difficult times with hope intact. The angels who announced Jesus’ birth to the shepherds had news that would energize the shepherds to leave their work in the fields and go looking for something worth finding. It might even change their lives. If we have such a vision—that just might change the world for the better, one more aligned with God’s values—we should share it with others. In fact, a big reason why I am part of Circlewood is that I believe in its vision.
Is there a vision that energizes you that you could share with others?
THE MAGI’S DREAM, 博士の夢, 1979, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON MOMIGAMI
Protecting as you are able
When the magi are warned by an angel in a dream that Herod plans to harm the child Jesus, they do not add their knowledge to a power that would do evil. Instead of returning to him as he asked them to do, they remove themselves from the equation by “returning by another way.” They refuse to turn over their own agency of choice to a power that wants to harm and destroy what they have come to value.
Are there ways in which you enable the powers around you to harm the human and nonhuman world that you value?
THEY LOWERED THE PARALYZED MAN, 病人を吊り下ろす, 1964, HAND COLORED STENCIL ON MOMIGAMI
Advocating for others
In the gospels, when a paralytic’s friends could not reach Jesus because of the crowds, they physically lowered him through the roof so that he could not be overlooked. Where others are experiencing injustice and undue suffering, we can use the power we have to bring their plight to the attention of those who can change things.
There are many people, creatures, and parts of this creation who do not have a voice to advocate for themselves. Is there one of these you feel particularly called to advocate for?
JESUS AND THE BLIND MAN 盲人を瘉やすキリスト, 1975, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON WASHI
Alleviating suffering where you can
In the picture above, we see one of the many times when Jesus filled a need out of his own abundance. He chose to act, to heal, to restore. He came near to those who needed him and allowed those who knew they needed him to come near to him. He chose to fill physical needs as well as spiritual ones. When a woman touched his robe and was healed, he felt power leave him, so we know that when he healed people, it took something out of him.
We all know we can’t do everything and that the work to alleviate suffering can’t depend solely on us. Is there a step you might take to alleviate the suffering around you?
THE WELL IN SAMARIA サマリアの井戸, 1979, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON MOMIGAMI
Remembering the forgotten
When circumstances continue for a long time, it is easy for those not directly involved to lose interest. Circumstances may remain the same; the suffering hasn’t decreased, but we our attention wanders away from that particular storyline. We may need reminders that bombs are still being dropped in Ukraine and that entire species are becoming extinct. In the human realm, as the Samaritan woman in the picture above found out, having someone acknowledge your story can be transforming and hope-giving. In the nonhuman realm, we’ll know we have created hope when there is a community of caring around that perhaps voiceless part of creation.
Where do I see a fellow creature’s hope waning? What can I do to help them not be forgotten?
MARY AND ELISABETH マリアとエリザベツ, 1977, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON MOMIGAMI
Being in it together
Sometimes all we can do is be with others in their experience. When Mary visited Elizabeth, I can only imagine how significant it was for this young, unwed, pregnant teen to feel less alone. To be with someone who, though she was in very different circumstances, was herself in the midst of an impossible pregnancy, living out a wild prophecy from God, had to have strengthened Mary’s hope that God was truly in the midst of her story. To have Elizabeth affirm Mary’s baby through the movement of her own baby must have fortified Mary’s hopes for the baby she was bearing.
When has your hope been strengthened by someone else’s presence with you? Is there someone who needs you to be with them in their suffering? Is there a nonhuman part of nature you might sit with and rejoice or grieve with?
THE GOOD SAMARITAN, よきサマリア人, 1973, HAND COLORED STENCIL PRINT ON MOMIGAMI
Valuing kindness
Finally, when we tell and glory in stories that promote fear of the other, self-protection, and a spirt of retaliation, we build a value system in which those characteristics are the foundation. When we tell stories that promote kindness, self-giving, and generosity, we build a very different foundation. The story of the Good Samaritan (pictured above), is a story about a hero who opens his eyes to suffering and is willing to do what is inconvenient in order to bring hope to someone unlike himself. This world is full of creatures unlike ourselves who need our kindness.
What values do you promote with your stories? Is kindness toward those who are different from them an attribute you value in your heroes?
Hungry for Hope
The world seems particularly hungry for hope this year. I wonder if any of the ideas from this post (listed below) is one you particularly want to participate in this Advent.
- Point to hope
- Protect as you are able
- Advocate for others
- Alleviate suffering
- Remember the forgotten
- Be in it together
- Value kindness
To send a comment email me at info@circlewood.online.
Looking for hospitality inspiration? We have an entire resource page dedicated to hospitality. Find recipes and reflections on numerous hospitality topics, including Celtic hospitality, prayers, and liturgies. Click on Hospitality for more!
This Sunday is the Third Week of Traditional Advent…the candle we light is the candle of Joy, or the Gaudete Candle (pink in some Advent Wreaths). Gaudete is Latin for REJOICE!
How are you finding Joy in these days of December? How are you experiencing Joy? Do you need to make a date with yourself to find some joy in the busyness of the holidays?
What things might help you REJOICE the week?
To add some joy and help my ability to rejoice, I am headed out to hear Handel’s Messiah. It’s become a family tradition but we haven’t been to hear it live since the pandemic started. I am looking forward to some rejoicing as I listen! Here’s a version for you to listen too.
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is from ISAIAH 35…Read this out loud and you might read it again in other translations …or just read this one three times and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Listen and Notice what God’s word is for you today….What do you notice about rejoicing and joy?
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
3 Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way;
4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come, he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution he will come to save you.”
5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped.
6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
7 The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
In the haunts where jackals once lay, grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.
8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness;
it will be for those who walk on that Way.The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
9 No lion will be there,
nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there.But only the redeemed will walk there,
and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
What does the Holy Spirit highlight for you today?
Which image in Isaiah speaks to you ? Why?
WATCH Isaiah 35 in video
Are you feeling like a dry desert or an abundant flower bed right now? Or somewhere in between? Talk to Jesus about where you are.
In the gospel passage for this Sunday, Matthew . John the Baptist wants to know if Jesus is really the ONE they all have been waiting on and watching for…
“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’ Matthew 11:2-11
Jesus is saying who he is …EMMANUEL …God with us! Just as Isaiah had promised!
5-7 Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped,
Lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song
Who in your life needs prayer for healing? For physical healing, emotional healing, those feeling unheard or unloved. Take time to pray for these friends.
Our world is filled with brokenness and injustice. Take time to pray for the things that are on your heart…the areas where the voiceless need a song and where blind eyes need to be opened.
USE THE ART to help you engage this week’s scripture passages for the Third Sunday of Advent. Which piece of ART speaks to you?
Along with ART, Music can help us engage the story. Listen to the Messiah above or these songs.
And this song by Bebo Norman capture our theme of RADICAL ADVENT….” The Rebel Jesus”
We are midway in the Advent Season, and if you are like me, the days of December are flying by much too quickly. The TO DO list seems to get longer, not shorter. And our rainy, warm days are not bringing much joy, if I am honest. So I am grateful today for the reminder from Isaiah 35:1-4.
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;
they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts,
“Be strong, do not fear;
HOMEWORK: Find some flowers at the store. Sadly it’s not the season for crocus here but maybe find a bulb like paper whites or tulips to watch grow. Use these as a reminder that the wilderness is bursting into bloom! THE GLORY OF THE LORD is at Hand!
Just like the Shepherds, watch for those Surprises and Godly interruptions along the way! Watch for things that make you smile.
Take time to find some JOY this week. And know that we do not have to live in the land of fear….because Jesus truly is EMMANUEL …GOD with US!
Blooming Heart
The other thing bringing me joy is my new website! findingyourthinplace.com
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
It’s time to celebrate Advent and Christmas. Let Godspace be a resource to you as you prepare! We have many devotionals, gifts, prayer cards, free downloads, retreats – and more – to offer. Check it out in our shop under the category of Advent!
This writing was originally posted on December 21, 2021 and can be found here.
Of all the customs and traditions of Christmas, the creche or nativity set is my favorite. As a child, I remember my parents would have us slowly create the scene during the season of Advent. First, we would set up the stable, and then over time, my brothers and I added a cow, a sheep and shepherd, and then an angel. The last week of Advent, Mary and Joseph would take their places. The Three Kings were set up somewhere else in the house as they made their slow and solemn journey to Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve, a votive candle would be lit and placed in the scene, symbolizing Christ’s divinity. And then, finally on Christmas Day, the baby Jesus would make his entrance, lying in the manger at the center of it all.
We were enacting that the Incarnation, God-with-us, entered into life in a very concrete and material way. As the Gospel of John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) Or, in Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, “God put on flesh and blood and moved into our neighborhood.” (The Message) That is a picture of a God who wants to get close to us. Think of God moving in as your next-door neighbor!
In fact, God is revealed in our neighborhoods and in our homes, in one another and in creation. Celtic Christian imagination brings this point home, literally. It has been said that the genius of Celtic spirituality is its ability to fuse together the unique time and place of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem with our own specific present. It teaches us that Bethlehem can become present wherever we are. (Ray Simpson, A Holy Island Prayer Book)
To illustrate that point, Patrick Thomas, a Welsh author and an Anglican priest, has written that in Welsh nativity scenes of the 19th and 18th centuries, whether it is a painting or a figurine set; a washerwoman, or laundress accompanies Mary, Joseph and Jesus at the manger. What a wonderful and beautiful thought, that God so loved the Holy Family that someone was sent to do the laundry!
On a more serious note, for the Welsh, God enters into the timeless story of the Holy Family by introducing a contemporary figure that they would recognize from their own culture–a working-class woman. It is interesting because a working-class woman of that period had about the same status as the shepherds did in Biblical times. One might romanticize shepherds but not working-class women. The Welsh people really understood who it was the Christ came for –the poor among their own communities.
I love the Celtic understanding that there need not be a division nor a separation between the rich and poor, the divine and human, the spiritual and material, the sacred and ordinary, the real and imagined, this time and former times. To illustrate the last point, in the Irish tradition, there is a tradition that St. Brigid accompanied the Holy Family as the midwife, never mind the degrees of centuries separation!
Intrigued by the Welsh tradition of bringing our lives into the nativity story, I engage in sacred play as part of my prayer. Over the years I have had a variety of nativity sets and I tend to favor indigenous ones. One of my favorite sets that I will use this year is from Africa. As I contemplated on how Christ is being born in my life this holy season, images of creation “danced in my head.” During the pandemic, I learned to pray and worship outdoors. I am grateful for my prayer time in nature.
This year, my nativity scene will include not only the Celtic expression of the elements of earth, air, wind, and fire; but it will also include more friends of the animal kingdom. In addition to the donkey and sheep, as I placed my turtle, my quail and my owl in the scene, I also gave thanks for St. Francis. He of course created the first living creche by bringing in sheep, a donkey and a real live baby into a church on Christmas Eve, centuries ago. St. Francis and many of the Celtic saints would appreciate a more inclusive representation of the animals at any manger scene, I am sure. And as an aside, in the movie, “Love Actually” a school Christmas pageant in England included two lobsters at the birth of Jesus! That feels like the Celtic imagination and inspiration jumping into the culture of our day. And it is good! It is another indication that Christ was born for all.
That a laundress accompanies the Holy Family in Welsh art means that the Holy Family and Christ accompanies us in all our life tasks as well. So, I wonder, how is Christ being born in your life or in your children’s and grandchildren’s lives? Who might stand with the Christ child and stand in for you at the manger this Christmas season? Might you find a creative way to illustrate that reality in your home so that your household nativity scene reflects your understanding of how God is among us now?
Perhaps, imagining being at the birth of Christ with the help of this meditation will spark your creativity:
“I open the stable door. I kneel before the infant. I worship with the shepherds. I adore the Christ child. I give my love with Mary and Joseph. I wonder at the Word made flesh. I absorb the love of God. I sing glory with the angels. I offer my gifts with the wise men; I have come from a land afar. I receive the living Christ. I hold Him in my hands. I go on my way rejoicing, glorifying and praising God.” (David Adam, The Open Gate)
For to us a Child is born. Let us rejoice and give thanks for the many ways that Christ is born again in our lives!
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Advent Oratorio –
Advent is more complicated than Easter. When Paul Spicer approached me about writing a follow-up to our ‘Easter Oratorio’, suggesting we take Advent as the theme, it seemed to me both completely appropriate and freshly challenging. Easter is about one single, massive moment: the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We have four different accounts of that moment and its immediate aftermath, and for the Oratorio we took John’s version as having the most obvious and varied ‘human interest’, in the meetings of the risen Jesus with several of his followers. Advent isn’t like that. It’s about two different historical moments which, though they’re umbilically joined, do not immediately reveal how they fit together. The great, massive Advent moment is still to come in the future, and this provides the over-arching structure of the present Oratorio…
This chorus is an extract from the oratorio that was performed at Lichfield Cathedral in 2009.
A Chorus from the piece
Paul Spicer & N.T. Wright
Come, Lord, and cleanse us from our sin;
Your new, glad work in us begin.
Remove our idols from our sight;
Let us in you alone delight.
Prepare us for your coming reign
By washing us from every stain;
Make known to us your holy Name;
Let us no more turn back to shame.
Call us to you from every land,
And guide us with your powerful hand;
Show us the path that we must tread,
Let us by you with joy be led.
Implant your Spirit in our heart,
That, with your Breath, new life may start;
Take from our flesh the heart of stone,
Let us rejoice in you alone.
For your own sake your love display,
That we may worship and obey;
Rebuild the wild and desert place;
Let us acclaim your sovereign grace.
Read more from N.T. Wright and download his free Advent ebook here.
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