Advent, Day 3 (11/30)

A reflection from Nancy Hendricks:

The short days and long hours of darkness are both inspiring and depressing for me. There is more time for indoor pursuits, such as contemplation and reading, but the early onset of dark each day can toss me into the blues. Maybe the deep longings I have can come to fruition during these daily extended hours of darkness.

I can learn much about patience from observing the acres of hazelnut trees that surround our property and home. Walking the rows in the summer, I notice the male catkins forming already in June and hanging down in all their beauty by September. The female flowers, much less noticeable, are also forming at that time. The wind-blown pollination of the flowers does not occur until January. But the pollen sits there waiting for just the right moment, about six months later, when fertilization occurs. For most plants pollination and fertilization occur within hours or, at the most, days. The hazelnut teaches me to be patient— fruiting and growth can happen even after a six-month long period of waiting in dormancy.

The hazelnuts develop over the summer and the nuts start falling from the trees onto the ground in late September and early October. There is still darkness, and not everything meets the eye until the nut’s shellgets cracked and the delicious kernel is found. Spending time to roast the kernel brings out even more flavor. So more than a year passes, and many steps are required, before we can enjoy the hazelnut’s gift tous.

As I walk the fields with our dog and my husband, I am reminded to be patient, like the hazelnut. It is okay to sit with ideas, to take time to get to know someone, to trust that in time a harvest of sorts will come into my life also.

Hazelnuts need each other as well. A single tree will not produce nuts. A community is needed. Just as ourcommunity is needed to support each other’s growth, in ways that we may not see at first. Just as we cannot see the kernel until the shell is cracked. Patience. Waiting. Darkness. Trust. Abundance. These are some of the words and actions that I ponder while I walk the hazelnut orchard.

Practice and Reflection:

If you’re able to gather some hazelnuts this week, enjoy them with intention. Can you taste or imagine the patience, the year, the soil, the roots of the orchard within them?

Advent: Day 2 (11/29)

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, our time spent in literal darkness continues to lengthen as we begin the transition into winter. Our bodies know this at a cellular level, whether or not our minds and calendars will accept it. Many plants are becoming dormant to store up energy for new growth. Many animals (humans included) are changing their behavior, location, and appearance accordingly.

In Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God, Kaitlin Curtice writes, “It is the lie, since the beginning,that we are made to be alone. We are not only made for community within our own species – we belong to all the creatures of the earth, our kin.” This resonates with what Pr. Janet shared on October 17 about ourfaith tradition’s second creation story in Genesis 2. Curtice continues, “If we are people called to keepwatch, that means we are people called to keep care, to pay attention. It is about more than just recycling; it is about a stance toward the earth of humility and eagerness to learn, because everything around us has a story to tell and a sacred life to be lived” (p. 129).

Practice and Reflection:

You’re invited to pay attention this week to a particular plant or animal or ecosystem near you. It may be a tree or animal outside your window, a plant on your patio, a garden, or a river or forest you frequent. It may be you. What do you notice about its response to the lengthening darkness and colder days? What story do you sense it telling us? Is there a question or lesson in there for you? Perhaps it simply is.

Advent: Day 1, Meeting God and one another in thick darkness

As we enter this Advent season, we do so in a world that somehow feels both more connected and more isolating than ever. This long stretch of pandemic in the midst of continued social, political, and environmental turmoil can be disorienting, unsettling, exhausting. What does the birth of the Christ child mean in such a place and time as this? How can we prepare? For what do we keep watch? 

What if we don’t know?

Jan Richardson believes “that Christ came not to dispel the darkness but to teach us to dwell with integrity, compassion, and love in the midst of ambiguity. The one who grew in the fertile darkness of Mary’s womb knew that darkness is not evil of itself. Rather, it can become the tending place in which our longings for healing, justice, and peace grow and come to birth. ... In the dark lie possibilities for intimacy, for rest, for healing. Although we may find journeying in the dark fearsome or confusing, it teaches us to rely on senses other than sight. In the process we learn that darkness bears the capacity for good, even as evil can take place in broad daylight. ... With a perception that goes beyond visual sight, we are called to know and to name the gifts of the night and to share the visions that emerge from the darkness” (Night Visions, 1998).

This Advent, you’re invited to join the Spirit of Grace community as we enter more fully into deepening darkness through the simple yet profound spiritual practices of slowing down, paying attention, and sharing stories. In the following blog posts, you will find authentic, vulnerable reflections – mostly from people in our community who were reminded that inspiration, struggles, insights, and unresolved questions are all welcome.

We hope you will feel the embrace of our community as you read and reflect on these pages, and be reminded that God indeed dwells in thick darkness (1 Kings 8:12). What gifts might we find there? What visions will emerge?

Happy new liturgical year!

By Director Vinci Halbrook-Paterson

The first Sunday of Advent ushers in a new liturgical year for the church. The liturgical year is divided into seasons: Advent, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. Advent is anticipatory, Lent is penitential, Easter is celebratory, and Ordinary Time challenges the ordinariness of following Jesus. Advent and Lent are meant to be a church-wide retreat, breaking us out of our routines and providing additional opportunities for contemplation, service, and self-giving.

Each year we alternate our lectionary between Lutheran and Catholic. With the start of this liturgical year we will be using Catholic Lectionary C. (Just finished using Lutheran Lectionary B.)  

The word Advent means “coming.” Our Advent readings speak of the anticipation, God’s preparations for Christ’s first coming, and images of Christ’s second coming. If Emanuel came in such an unexpected way the first time, we must be attentive to how God enters our lives and our world in unexpected ways now and in the future.

Families, individuals, and church communities have adapted many customs and traditions to enter into the season. I sum the season up with this phrase: “We wait in joyful hope.”  Let’s look at the Advent wreath, the Advent calendar, and some Advent saint days.

Advent Wreaths

The Advent wreath was adapted from the German and Scandinavian custom of a lit wreath during the darkest days of December. The evergreen wreath signified hope in the coming spring. By 1600, Catholics and Lutherans had developed more formal practices around the Advent wreath.The four candles signify the Sundays of Advent. Three candles are purple or blue and the fourth candle is pink. The pink candle is lit on the third Sunday of Advent, Gaudete or “Rejoice Sunday,” because we are over halfway to Christmas. Prayers of hope are prayed as the candle is lit. Sometimes families light their wreath at the beginning or end of a meal together. They can extend their meal prayer with a line or two about preparing for Christ, or light it after the meal and share a reflection question like: “How did someone share Christ’s light with you this week?”  Another option is to read a daily Advent reflection individually or as a family to allow the opportunity for pause and focus.

Advent Calendars

In the 1800s many families counted the days down until Christmas using chalk to cross out the days gone by. The first printed Advent calendar originated in Germany in the early 20th century with Gerhard Lang. When Gerhard was a little boy his mother made him a calendar with 24 small candies attached to cardboard, one for each day before Christmas. When Lang grew up and ran the Reichhold & Lang printing company, he printed the first Advent cardboard calendar with 24 little pictures. A few years later, the company printed the first calendar with the little doors that everyone loves to open.

Today we have Advent calendars made of paper, wood, and even Lego. Some calendar doors open to find a scripture verse or an act of service. Commercial calendars offer other items behind the calendar doors such as a coffee or tea for the day, or a piece of chocolate. The purpose of the calendar is to build anticipation and focus our minds and hearts on the meaning of Christ’s humble birth, and not the commercial trappings and hustle and bustle promoted around us. Another focus during this season are the poor, the houseless, and children. Since Christ was first announced to the humble shepherds, we are asked to be mindful of and care for those in need. The children in our religious education classes will be bringing home a paper Advent calendar. We will have some additional ones printed and available in the welcome area of the church.

Advent Saints

Here are a few saints and feasts that fall during Advent. I encourage you to discover a bit about these people of faith so they may provide you insight and inspiration. 

• Saint Nicholas: December 6

• Immaculate Conception of Mary: December 8

• St. Juan Diego: December 9

• Our Lady of Guadalupe: December 12

• St. Lucia (Lucy): December 13 

The O Antiphons

The O Antiphons are Magnificat antiphons used at vespers on the last seven days of Advent in western Christian traditions. Their exact origin is unclear, but they are referenced in Italy around the year 480. Each one highlights a title for the Messiah and refers to the prophecy of Isaiah of the coming of the Messiah. Here are those titles (in Latin) and their meaning: 

• O Sapientia (O Wisdom)

• O Adonai (O Lord)

• O Radix Jesse (O Root of Jesse)

• O Clavis David (O Key of David)

• O Oriens (O Rising Sun)

• O Rex Gentium (O King of the Nations)

• O Emmanuel

Finding Our Grounding

By Don Manghelli

First COVID sent us to our rooms. Earth Mother stood at the door: “Don’t come out till you can treat each other and me with more compassion.” Then troublemaking federal agents invaded our nonviolent Black Lives Matter protests in Portland. And California burned all summer, while we looked on from afar. Then last week we began eating smoke ourselves and grieving all the destruction in our own backyard.

The mythical bird, the phoenix, arises from its own ashes. What would Spirit have us build from these ashes? “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth” (Isaiah 43:19). If I don’t stop myself, I will keep myself in a state of anxiety, frantically looking for more things to worry about. Unless I ground myself in Spirit, I get lost in anxiety. So many things to concern us today. So how do I ground myself?

First, I start with three deep breaths, just focusing on them. If I am together enough, I breathe in love and breathe out compassion. Sometimes I just breathe deep. Use whatever words work for you—or just breathe. Deep breathing calms the anxiety response in the brain, opening us up to centering in God’s love.

Then I ask myself how I can take my spiritual practices to the 2.0 or even the 3.0 level. These are perilous times, and my practices need to keep pace. What is Spirit asking of me to help birth the new Phoenix? In a recent email, spiritual teacher Carolyn Myss wrote:

“God reveal your wisdom to me. Show me the way for me. One word will do. Don’t let me miss it. Is it hope? Is it love, or is it patience? Or some other word that gradually comes into focus?”

Spirit is always there—if I ask. Spirit can bring me back to grounding in love—if I ask. Then I can find God in awe as I find joy in my child’s laugh, or the love of a partner or furry friend.

 I can remind myself to be grateful, as my friend related to me today. Even after a stroke that left him paralyzed on his left side, he found something to be thankful for—and I heard joy in his voice. 'I didn’t think to be thankful for all the sun and clean air we have had this summer—until we didn’t have it anymore.'”