Seeing this theme for 2022, I must admit I was a bit startled. It seemed to me to suggest an “out”. When is it not possible to be kind?
Kindness. We are tempted to wonder where this simple, basic trait has gone.
Watching the news, we seldom see simple kindness exhibited unless we are looking for it. Whether in scenes of war and murder or just plain rudeness and the refusal to listen to a different point of view in the opinion pieces, (is there any news that is not mostly opinion anymore?), the world appears a rather cold and unyielding place.
There seems to be fewer individuals who truly seem to possess dignity, integrity or even kindness. Or is the harshness of the world so loud we choose to apply a deaf ear not only to cruelty, but to muffle out the good as well?
Do we take time to seek out kindness? Are we capable of shutting out so much we miss the opportunity of opening a door for another or surrendering our seat on the bus to the elderly? Big events, or those made to seem bigger than life, screech at us from all forms of media. From our TVs, radios, computer screens and phones, they demand attention. The pushy and relentless “what about me” intrudes on our daily lives from honking cars, those insisting their own view is so much more relative than our own, and those who sound more like petulant teenagers and crying children, taking attention away from those who actually deserve our consideration.
All these things combine to make it, at times, difficult to be kind ourselves; like when our spouse requires an answer to much put-off question, or the teenage son or daughter want us to listen to an elaborate reason as to why they need the car—NOW, or when the broken-hearted child, who’s shunned by a playmate, longs to know they are the center of our entire world.
Weary of the world, we turn to scripture. What does kindness truly require of us? Setting aside our own emotions can really seem cruel too. “Why me,” we pout, “why is it up to me?”
If we still ourselves, we hear a small voice whisper, “If not you…who?”
Anyone who has attended a wedding has likely heard 1 Corinthians 13:4.
“Love is large and incredibly patient. Love is gently and consistently kind to all…” (TPT)
So, patience coupled with kindness. Does being kind require patience? Of course it does. Whether it is in a heated argument or with a crying child, we cannot be kind until we, the giver, calm down within the storm. The slowing down allows us patience for the other and ourselves. If we cannot find understanding for ourselves, we will never identify with the pain of another. We will only find guilt.
Once we find Patience, we can move on to Ephesians 4:32.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (NIV)
Ouch! Here kindness is coupled not only with compassion, but God wants us to forgive one another as well!
But…then comes Matthew 18:21-22.
“Later Peter approached Jesus and said, “How many times do I have to forgive my fellow believer who keeps offending me? Seven times?”
Jesus answered, “Not seven times Peter, but seventy times seven.” (TPT)
Seventy-seven times? And you just know that Jesus in all probability hopes we will have stopped counting by then. And further, who isn’t pretty sure that he does not limit it to fellow believers but certainly those who may not know him at all. We recognize that forgiveness is not optional if we wish to be kind in all areas of our lives.
God knows it is actually easier on us to be patient, forgiving, and kind if we practice these constantly in our lives rather than trying to pick and choose when we will bless others. Kindness needs to be developed as a way of life, as the go-to response to all of life’s situations.
On Kindness Day we can choose. And it is a choice to be kind. To be kind to all on purpose: the cashier at the grocery store, the person on the phone who bumps into us on the street, the co-workers questioning our decisions, the newspaper boy who consistently hits the bushes and our families who need it the most after a long day in their world.
When is it “not possible” to be kind? Never.
I am a liturgical rebel. I am aware of this more and more each year. I love the seasons of the liturgical year but I find many of the established practices either boring or irrelevant to my life. I have a growing urge to apply my creativity to each season and come up with practices that are relevant for me personally. I love the freedom to change my practices each year based on my own emotional and spiritual condition, the state of the world and the grief I bear because of the climate catastrophe unfolding around us, and the wonder of being a child of God in the midst of our ever-changing world.
Tomorrow, November 15th, marks the beginning of Celtic Advent, a season I embrace a few years ago when I recognized the need for a longer preparation time for Christmas. Celtic Advent begins 40 days before Christmas, about 2 weeks before the start of traditional Advent. I love this extended period of preparation. I also love that there are no set rules to follow. No known symbols specifically for the Celtic Advent season. So I can invite the Spirit to stir my imagination and creativity to create my own.
I spent the weekend reading through the section about creating a contemplative garden in Digging Deeper – The Art of Contemplative Gardening – refreshing my memory of the process that so often underlies my creation of a new contemplative garden. This process, based on one I discovered in Day Shildkret’s beautiful book Morning Altars, is – as I comment in Digging Deeper – a very sacred process. It encourages me to dream inviting the Holy Spirit to direct my dreaming. I then wander my house and garden to gather significant items and small plants to incorporate in my garden. The creation step is always a fun and often protracted one. My garden tends to change and morph over the time I use it for meditation. New thoughts, ideas and inspiration prompts the addition of new elements that draw me closer to the heart of God. The last step will be letting go. When the season for which I created the garden ends, I find release and freedom in dismantling what I created.
This new garden replaces the one I dismantled over the weekend. It uses the same beautiful clam shell as its base but most of the elements are new. Many are items I collected on Iona during my last visit. Some distinctive rocks, a few strands of lamb’s wool and a dried piece of kelp. At the back of the garden is a delicate coral frond that reminds me of a winter tree, denuded of leaves but revealing the beautiful skeleton of the tree beneath. Its inclusion comes from asking myself: “What do I grieve as the autumn leaves fall and I let go of the beauty of this passing season? What do I look forward to as winter approaches?” One thing I always rejoice in on my winter walks is the breathtaking beauty of the branches that it reveals. These beautiful tree skeletons only appear for a few short months, but they are worth the loss of the autumn colours to be able to appreciate their full glory.
Beside the garden stands one of my Celtic crosses. It is embellished with scenes from the Bible and the original cross would have been a site of learning. I incorporated this to remind myself that Advent is a season of learning and I need to pay attention to all the stories I hear at this season.
Celtic Advent contemplative garden
My new garden combines well with the practice I established a couple of weeks ago as my early morning devotional time was increasingly spent in the dark. I sit in the dark for a few minutes. Take some deep breathes in and out to focus me on the presence of God, then I recite this prayer adapted from John 1:4,5:
God, it is dark, but in you there is always light.
Christ is the light of the world,
and his life brought light to everyone.
His light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness will never extinguish it.
Then I light the candles in my circle of light. Most of them are battery-operated, but I always end with lighting a real candle. It stands just behind my new garden. As the winter solstice and the darkest day of the year approach, I tend to light more real candles and will definitely add some to my garden so that by Christmas time it is a blaze of light.
I then sit in silent meditation for several minutes. At the end of my time, as the sun slowly adds natural light to my world, I recite another prayer
God I thank you for your light
That gives light not just to everyone,
But to every part of creation.
I thank you that you are present,
In all things, around all things,
Shining through all things.
These kinds of rituals really enrich my life and my faith. And as Christmas approaches I search for more such rituals to strengthen the meaning of the season. This year I sense a yearning to focus on a Blue Christmas celebration, which in the Northern hemisphere, coincides with the winter solstice. So many people are grieving – the loss of loved ones from COVID and other causes, the loss of property from hurricane and floods, the loss of economic security and growing hunger. Deep within myself there is an ever-present grief for the destruction of creation and its impact on all our lives. I particularly love some of the practices that my friend Mark Pierson in New Zealand, shared with me – an arrangement of empty chairs to commemorate those we have lost, or using zip ties and barbed wire to represent our grief for the abandoned and despised in our world. I like to end such celebrations on a note of hope. This year I toy with creating Birdseed wreaths for the birds that flitter around our garden, as part of my Blue Christmas remembrances. They are an ever-present sign of hope for me. Another possibility is creating a nativity scene with a difference.
Another fun ritual for this season is the preparation for Christmas festivities, beginning with my very English fruitcake for which I soaked the fruit this weekend. I love to cook all kinds of goodies at this season. I also love to eat them, and more than anything love to share them with others. We used to hold a Christmas Open house each year, but Tom and I are still not comfortable with large gatherings so will restrict ourselves to small gatherings with friends. I will also send a lot of the goodies to friends and relatives in other parts of the country and world. That too is part of what I delight in at this season. This year it is made even more fun as I will delve into the Godspacelight Community Cookbook for new recipes and inspiration. And a copy of the book will sneak its way into every package that I send.
I encourage you to allow your liturgical rebel to surface as we head towards Christmas. Spend time in prayer allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you. Be willing to let go and create something new. I think you too will be inspired by how much it enriches your faith and draws to close to God.
Join Christine Sine for a time of quiet reflection on December 3rd, 2022. Slow down the busyness of the season and nourish your soul with contemplative focus and reflection. All the details can be found here:
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
By Tom Sine
I am so delighted that Christine invited us to focus on the gift of hospitality as we race towards Thanksgiving 2022. I hope you found my recent post on hospitality stimulating. As I described in the article, Christine and I have thoroughly enjoyed hosting a co-living Christian community called Mustard Seed House for 30 years.
Mustard Seed House is comprised of three two bedroom apartments. We offer reduced rents to young couples who want to participate in a co-living community. We share one meal each week, sharing our activities in our lives and faith. We also participate in gardening one day a month.
Discovering the Good News Generation
In this post I want to enable you to discover not only the benefit of co-living with Gen Next. I also want you to also discover, as we have, that Gen Y & Z are the good news generation. I find a lot of Christian leaders know the disappointing news Pew Research has predicted about Generations Y & Z for over a decade…that a growing number of them will not affiliate with the church. However, few church leaders seem to be aware of the remarkably positive profile of this new generation. I want share some very good news about Gen Next and show you some concrete ways they can be very good new to those in your community who are struggling and our churches who are looking for new ways to make a difference in these troubled times.
Discovering the Gifts of the Good News Generation
Since Gen Y & Z are the first digital generation, they are much more aware of the urgent issues of environmental, racial and economic justice. They are not only more aware, but a higher percentage of them want to actually invest their lives in serious change making to address these challenges in our neighborhoods and our world.
For example, the United Nations Climate Change Summit is beginning this week in Egypt. You can be sure that not only Greta Thunberg, but many others from Gen Y & Z will find ways to participate since they realize that the 2020s is a make or break decade. Many of them are committed to reversing climate crisis not only for their kids, but to prevent a more immediate disaster for our poorest neighbors and their kids in the majority world. Many of these young people are ready to work with our churches to address this crisis in your community. Many of them would welcome the opportunity to join the Million Tree Project that the Mennonite Church has recently launched.
This is an invitation to join those in our churches who are empowering Gen Y & Z and their strong concerns for issues of environmental, racial and economic justice. What are innovative ways you and your church could join others in creating creative ways to empower some of the Good News Generation where you live? Please send me info on what you are launching or considering. I want to share it with others who want to support this Good News Generation in this decade of accelerating change.
Gen Next offer our churches and communities a welcome group of volunteers to join change making teams where you live. However, this Good News Generation is facing two serious challenges that many in our congregations don’t seem to be aware of. The Good News Generation has much higher school debts than Xer or Boomer generations that makes it hard for them to act on their strong concerns. They also are facing much higher housing costs.
That is why a growing number of Christians are offering reduced rent to enable those in the Good News Generations to allow them to have more time to work in a social enterprises and other forms of change-making
For example, a young man in a black church in Grand Rapids became concerned a couple years ago about the concerning number of young in his churchs’ neighborhood who were not able to afford college and had limited work opportunities after high school. This young change maker got permission from his church to create a remarkable dual job training program that was life changing for many young people in his churchs’ community. They offered two training programs. First, a program training high school grads in housing construction trades that pay well. The second was a training program for working in speciality coffee shops. This offers a doorway for young people who want to work in the food service field.
Could you or a cluster of your friends in your congregations enable members of the Good News Generation to launch new job training opportunities or perhaps start neighborhood garden projects? Or could you and your friends create some less expensive co-housing models for members of the Good News Generation so they have more time to complete their schooling or join some of their friends in creating other forms social innovation?
As you know, as a result of the pandemic a number of churches are experiencing not only declining attendance but also declining giving, which causes a serious decline in reaching out to neighbors in need. If you want to read more about how to join those empowering the Good News Generation in your community and your church take a look at book with a bit of a rude title: Live Like You Give A Damn! Join the Changemaking Generation.
I would value your feedback and your pushback to this unusual proposal for those who are empowering the Good News Generation as a new spiritual practice.
Tom Sine twsine@gmail.com
Feeling overwhelmed this holiday season? Make space for a moment of peace on December 3rd for Advent Quiet Day. Join Christine Sine for a morning of scripture reading and quiet reflection to pause and reflect during the busy Advent season. This retreat will be LIVE via zoom from 9:30 am PT to 12:30 pm PT. Click here for more details or to sign up!
What does November look like? I know I know… it’s already the 11th! But if you are like me, you may be in complete denial that it’s already the 11th and that here in the States, Thanksgiving is two weeks away!
I think the pandemic messed with my internal time clock. The years of pandemic ( that is still with us) slowed many things down and forced us out of rhythms that were “normal” to us. Then this year, as we moved out from lock downs and quarantines, we jumped back into life again! Sometimes before we were ready, sometimes with lots of joy and exciting adventures. Often though we discovered that we really don’t want to go back to the crazy busyness of the before times.
Some of us realize that we just don’t have the margin we used to have to bounce back or be with lots of people and activities.
The global pandemic, politics, natural disasters, racism, inflation and personal losses have added up and these layers of trauma are exhausting and have exhausted our inner resources.
This year seems to have to flown by! And this month already too!
But i believe in fresh starts, new beginnings and that it’s never too late to have a great day, or a great month.
So what does November look like?
What do you want it to look like?
Take some time to consider this.
Write it out, or make a list.
I made a list on the first of November and I’m baby stepping my way to making these self care things happen, but they definitely aren’t habits, they don’t happen every day! Yet!
What do you want November to look like, feel like? You could actually draw it, or collage it.
One of my daily practices (that i started on Pilgrimage ) is making a list each morning of the Gifts from the day before.
What were the Gifts that I experienced?
The things that brought Joy?
The things I am grateful for?
The God Surprises along the way?
Making a list helps me remember and see that there are Gifts even in the crazy bad days!
Next week Celtic Advent begins on November 15th. The Celtic Christians and Orthodox Christians start the journey of Advent 40 days before Christmas.
This might be a great year to start Advent early. Or even consider Advent as a practice rather than just a season on the church calendar. Advent begins the NEW YEAR for the church calendar. So we can begin new too!
What do you want the rest of November to look like?
What could your Advent Season be like this year?
What might you consider that could help you experience the real joy of Christmas this year?
What would bring peace to you rather than stress?
Ask God to show you.
Spend time with Jesus on this… after all it’s his birthday coming up…Why not discover the wonder of
the Incarnation this Advent rather than just all the stuff? The Wonder of God with us! Come o Come Emmanuel!
We Franciscans have always believed that the Incarnation was already the redemption, because in Jesus’s birth God was already saying that it was good to be human, and God was on our side. Fr. Richard Rohren
Ideas for November/December
Make an Advent Play List …listen to it daily. Check out Jeff Johnson’s New Album Winter Songs
Create an Advent Wreath …add extra candles for the two weeks of Celtic Advent.
Make a daily list of GIFTS recalling the gifts and God surprises of the day before.
Find a new devotion for Advent. See our list and watch our Facebook Live.
Create an Advent/Christmas Sacred Space at your Church or for your community…ADVENT WAITING OR INCARNATION.
Lord God,
Calm us as we wait for the Gift of Jesus.
Cleanse us to prepare the way for his arrival. Help us to slow down and prepare our hearts. Help us to wait and take time to be with you. Teach us to contemplate the wonder of God with us.
Teach us to know the presence of your Spirit. Teach us to bear the life of Jesus and live out his Kingdom.
Today and Always. AMEN(adapted from Ray Simpson of Lindesfarne)
©lillylewin and freerangeworship.com
PREORDER: Cookbook Bundle 2: Cookbook + Graham Kerr’s Gathering Place
Purchase Options:
In January we celebrate Epiphany and the coming of the Magi to visit Jesus. Like them, many of us feel we are on a long journey following a star that is sometimes bright and shining, sometimes completely hidden yet still guiding us towards Christ. 2022 taught us important lessons that will shape the coming year. We sense God wants to do something new in our lives and we want to follow in the right direction.
Join Lilly Lewin and Christine Sine online Saturday, January 7th 2023 from 9:30 am PT to 12:30pm PT as they help us reflect on the past year and take time to hope, dream and pray for the year ahead. We will engage in some fun practices like chalking the door and interact with each other in ways that strengthen our faith and draw us closer to God.
Click here to register! We are once again offering several price points to aid those who are students or in economic hardship.
Stressed, working hard to prepare books for publication amid several life adjustments, one morning I knew I had to attend to my soul. For me, soul care and renewal involve reading, meditating, praying / releasing, and experiencing nature / creation.
First, I drank my coffee and read a devotional article that said:
Am I willing to continue yielding my life wholly to God? If so, there is power for me…God promises help to accomplish the task toward which His Spirit points me.
I wrote a list of the things on my heart that had become burdens, prayed over them, and gave them to God, again.
Then I read:
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all that we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Eph.3:20-21, NIV)
I prayed this scripture, inserting my name and then the names of our family members. Assurance came.
Then, for the solace and renewal of nature, I drove down to the nearby river trail. There my senses were immediately overwhelmed and filled with the sights and sounds and smells and textures of that lush spot where grassy farmland meets the river that has flowed down from the Rocky Mountains. There, nature burgeons with life.
One thing my husband and I are learning as we live in this high place of Colorado where every season happens in every season—is to appreciate and “seize” the moment. If we don’t come down to the river trail for a couple of weeks, we hardly recognize the place next time. All summer, layer upon layer of grasses and flowering plants keep coming up, replacing the previous layer, each a little higher than the last, reaching for the intense sunshine which often gives way to evening thunder clouds. In the early summer, wild roses were blooming under the giant cottonwoods. Later they had dried up and purple thistle had risen 5 to 6 feet tall, bright and stately. You might think them renegade weeds in your garden, but out here, they’re royalty. Clouds of foamy yellow flowers grow here and there, and every shade of foliage.
Bird songs abound! I recognize the sounds of killdeer, red-winged blackbirds, and others. I see the orchard oriole, eastern kingbird, and many others. A rabbit hops near the river’s edge. Farmers are irrigating today, obviously, because the wet riverbanks and shallow water indicate most of the river’s flow here has been diverted to the canals. I watch several huge river-bottom fish, their backs often rising above the water’s surface, and I can see a golden eye high on their foreheads. They glisten in the sunshine and are too big for the six snowy egrets nearby to tackle. But if a bald eagle happened by they’d be easy prey, so visible in the shallow waters. In a clearing on the opposite side, I see prairie dogs with their young. They stand up straight above their holes and suckle their little ones who then lick their mothers’ faces. They’re cute. And they supply food for the many hawks and owls around here.
In the shady places under the heavy cottonwoods, myriads of butterflies float and flutter. I see one group that fly this way and that and round and round in sync as if propelled by a little twister wind. How do they synchronize their flight in milliseconds like that? The hot sun intensifies the scents of grasses mingled with damp river smells. Several cyclists ride by me, calling out “on your left.” Two lark sparrows perch on a fence and watch me, showing off their harlequin faces, feathers glowing like polished bronze in the sun.
I’m thankful for this day, and this place, and God’s glory all around.
Back at my car, I give thanks to God. As I walk into the house, a CD is playing and I hear the words of a gospel song, “Morning by morning new mercies I see….Great is thy faithfulness.” Tears smart my eyes. I “seize the moment” and find joy in it, and I have a renewed realization that God is in this moment with me!
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!
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!