Christmas In Our Hearts

Sometimes a song says it best. These lyrics are from the  group Downhere's song Christmas In Our Hearts from their album How Many Kings. It's quite timely, although it's an older song (and the band, one of my favorites,  is no longer together). It just reminds me that you can't really shut down Christmas! 

Land adorned with snow, trees silver and gold, a fire crackling along

Red and green decor, carolers at the door, and that family feeling is strong

Would it be less Christmassy, if all of it were gone? 

Even if nobody said Merry Christmas, if even the choirs and belfries made no sound, 

There would be peace on the earth, and forgiveness 'cause it's Christmas in our hearts. 

Everywhere you go, the poor and orphans know the Spirit is stirring the soul,                                        

as love and caring dare beyond the standard fare, to get back what the world stole. Is anything more

 Christmassy, more sweetly apropos?

Even if nobody said Merry Christmas, if even the choirs and belfries made no sound, 

There would be peace on the earth, and forgiveness 'cause it's Christmas in our hearts. 

Sacred night so timeless, we through shadows roam; 

Lend Your star to guide us to our heart's true home. 

Even if nobody said Merry Christmas, if even the choirs and belfries made no sound, 

There would be peace on the earth, and forgiveness 'cause it's Christmas in our hearts. 

Oh, if every sleigh bell on earth just disappeared, the 24th of December we'd start ringing a new year

There would be peace on the earth and forgiveness, 'cause it's Christmas in our hearts, 

Christmas in our hearts. In our hearts. 

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Peace on Earth

Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill towards all people! 

The angels concluded their message, proclaiming to an ordinary band of lowly shepherds, certainly no pillars in their community. They were just simple people doing the work necessary to keep their families fed. After seeing the Christ child, as the angels had said, they excitedly spread the word they had been told. "And all those who heard it marveled at those things the shepherds shared." Luke 2:18 

God uses the most unlikely people to bring the message of peace to the world. 

I feel unequipped for the task of bringing peace to the world, failing many times. Often I'm tempted to focus on my  own wants and needs. Often I lack confidence. Sometimes the pain I see in this world is simply too much, and I want to hide. Do you feel the same?  How, then, do we help to usher in peace and goodwill? 

Peace on earth, I must remind myself, is not conditional upon what is or isn't happening 'out there'  but it is based on a Person. Jesus brings peace to our world, in the middle of the mess. He brings it by changing our hearts one bit at a time. And then we must bravely join in the work of making change. One small step at a time, often beginning with the person in front of us.  

I recently had a conversation with two of my coworkers. For some reason, we had a really deep, meaningful conversation about life, and I, praying that God would give me the words to say that would matter, shared something I had learned in my life. "When you said that, I had goosebumps all over! I don't know why! That really hit me!", one of them responded.  I was as surprised as her, but I believe it was the Spirit of God touching her the way only He can. He is the one who changes lives. I keep praying for her, one who has been so beaten down by life.  

The spirit of Christmas gives us a voice to cry "Good will to men, and Peace on earth", making it so much more than just a sweet sentiment and a shallow hope. 

Good will, or Peace on Earth, this is an act of rebellion, a full forced movement against the effects of the fall. It is not blind faith nor is it childish rhetoric. It is holy wisdom and it is as out of place as a host of angels hovering over a band of shepherds.

 (from Peace is Here: Christmas Reflections, by Jars of Clay)

May we all remember whose we are this Christmas, and respond to the little (and big) nudges the Spirit gives us, joining in the movement of bringing the peace of Jesus to our world. 

Photo by Tom Hill on Unsplash

Thursday 13- the Advent Edition

Celebrating Advent is one way to help me focus on the true meaning of Christmas and steer away from the hustle and bustle that puts me in a state of anxiousness at times! While I love gift giving and celebrations, I don't love the way the rushing around makes me feel.

So... I celebrate Advent. One small activity each day helps me to relax a bit and makes a space for me to ponder the important things. I know Christmas is only a week away, and advent is almost over, but that's okay. Start where you are. :)

 Here are 13 simple ways to incorporate a little advent activity into your life this year. If you'd like to learn more about Advent, check out the post I wrote last year.

1. Listen to advent music everyday, even for just a few minutes. There are some great lists on Spotify. My favorite is Simple Advent, but there are many more music lists.

2. Read a children's version of the Christmas Story.

3. Choose 4 or 5 candles. Light a candle at suppertime. Add one candle each Sunday before Christmas, so by this Sunday, you'd be lighting four . I add a fifth, which I'll be lighting on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

4. Read or sing the lines of a hymn or song that focuses on the waiting period. "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" is a good one, but there are many!

5. Read an advent devotional. Even if you don't read it each day or finish the book, it will help prepare you for Christmas Day. The Advent Door by Jan Richardson is one of my favorites. As well, check out Taste and See by Jan Johnson, which is focused on becoming part of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, using your imagination.

6. Light up your living space in the evening with Christmas tree lights and mini lights or candles and enjoy them.

7. Put up a Nativity Set where you'll glance at it each day.

8.   Read passages in the Bible that relate to the Christmas story.

9. Attend a Christmas concert or presentation.

10. Volunteer for an organization that brings hope to those who need it.  Ringing the bell for the Salvation Army Kettle Campaign, or helping to serve food at a shelter are two ideas.

11. Go out for coffee with a friend and have a chat about making Christmas meaningful.

12. Go for a walk alone and ponder the meaning of Christmas.

13. Watch a movie about the birth of Jesus.  My favorite one is The Nativity Story

May your Christmas celebration be meaningful this year! And fun!

Join in on Thursday 13!

Yes, there really ARE 12 Days of Christmas

Recently I heard someone mention that the song The 12 Days of Christmas was a crazy song because.. 12 days?? What's with that? Well, there really ARE 12 Days of Christmas in the church calendar year.

Let's back up a bit.

 I had never really thought much about the church calendar, besides Easter (sometime in April) and Christmas (December 25), which I've celebrated since I was a little girl, being brought up in the church. But what was the church calendar, anyway? I had never heard of that.

In the last 15 years or so, I had begun to incorporate Lent and Advent 'lite' into our family celebrations. At Christmas time we followed an advent calendar, but I never really connected it with the greater church year. Had I been missing something important all these years? The churches I have attended over the years didn't really follow the church year. One of our former pastors did offer Lent ideas and lit the Advent Candles in the month of December. I'm very grateful for that, and it did help to fan the flame of my interest in the liturgical year.

The book Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year by Kimberlee Conway Ireton has been so helpful in explaining the structure and relevance of the liturgical year. I'd highly recommend this book, but I think you can only find it used or on Kindle.

The cyclical, circular nature of the church year provides us with repeated opportunities to live out various aspects of our faith, to see life through the lens of the Christ-story and to deepen our understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. The church year has seasons of darkness, of light, of sorrow, of rejoicing, of just getting through. Our lives have such seasons too. By incorporating these experiences, the church year hallows them, reminding us that all time is sacred because God is present in it.
Ireton, Kimberlee Conway. The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year (Kindle Locations 89-92). Mason Lewis Press. Kindle Edition.

The church calendar begins with Advent (which leads up to Christmas), and now we are officially in Epiphany! Epiphany lasts 12 days, from Dec 26 to January 6th. 

And those days are the actual 12 Days of Christmas. 

And here is a link to a great rendition of the 12 Days of Christmas, the song we know and love. 

Do you follow the seasons of the church year?

Hope of all the Earth

1. Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
   Born to set Thy people free;
   From our fears and sins release us,
   Let us find our rest in Thee.
   Israel’s Strength and Consolation,
   Hope of all the earth Thou art;
   Dear Desire of every nation,
   Joy of every longing heart.
2. Born Thy people to deliver,
   Born a child and yet a King,
   Born to reign in us forever,
   Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
   By Thine own eternal Spirit
   Rule in all our hearts alone;
   By Thine all sufficient merit,
   Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
3. Charles Wesley

The End is the Beginning

The end of autumn
The end of the days of shortening daylight
The end of Advent
The end of the year

The beginning of winter solstice
The beginning of growing daylight
The beginning.. celebrating Love come down, God with us
The beginning of a new year

As I get older
I get surer
Man's heart is colder,
His life no purer.
As I grow steadily
More austere
I come less readily
To Christmas each year.
I can't keep taking
Without a thought
Forced merrymaking
And presents bought
In crowds and jostling.
Alas, there's naught
In empty wassailing
Where oblivion's sought
Oh, I'd be waiting
With quiet fasting
Anticipating
A joy more lasting.
And so I rhyme
With no apology
During this time
Of eschatology:
Judgment and warning
Come like thunder.  

 But now is the hour
 When I remember
An infant's power
On a cold December.
Midnight is dawning
And the birth of wonder. 
 

 Madeleine L'Engle, The Irrational Season

The Advent--ure begins

Today is the first day of Advent. I purchased a wonderful book last year called Taste & See - Experiencing the Stories of Advent and Christmas by Jan Johnson. She encourages the use of our God given imaginations to place ourselves in the story as we do our daily readings. This book is written for small groups, but easily adaptable to an individual devotional time.

The daily advent opening prayer:

I will release the cares of the day, and open my eyes to the wonder of God,With an attitude of empathy to people of another time, I will open my heart and mind to God. I will prepare to experience God's Word to methrough the presence of the Holy Spirit. 

 If I recall correctly, my plans to read it daily last year didn't exactly materialize. Thankfully, the author wrote these wise words in the introduction, and I took them to heart:

Do the meditations as you can, not as you can't. 

I figure any advent readings, meditations, and journalling I do this year will be better than not starting at all.

This morning my church was decorated beautifully with lights and greenery and the advent candles were in place. I could feel myself beginning to anticipate Christmas, slowly but surely. I was disappointed that we didn't light the candles or sing even one Christmas-focused song, though. There are so many beautiful renditions of carols these days, both traditional and updated. Hopefully we will be singing those together more than just on one Sunday!

Thankfully, I have a wealth of Christmas CD's (I usually purchase one new album a year), and I will be playing them to my heart's content at home and in the car.  Come Dec 1st,  that is. That's when my celebrations officially begin--the tree goes up (undecorated for a few days) and the Christmas playlist begins. And on the first Saturday of December, we have our annual family brunch, tree decorating (girls), and outdoor light stringing (guys). I'm looking forward to that, although I will really miss two of my children this year who are too far away to make it. It won't be the same without them. *sniff*

Advent helps to bring me back to reflect on what really matters. Even if it's just a few minutes at a time, it is my way of being sure I do 'listen' to hear what God is saying to me this Advent season.

Hope your season of anticipating Christmas is meaningful to you!

I wish you a Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Been listening to some favorite Christmas albums on and off this week. I give myself 25 days to freely listen to as much and as varied Christmas music as I want to. Then, it's back to regular listening for me (which is also varied!).

Today, it's Downhere's album, as well as Jars of Clay. I never tire of their Christmas albums.

Speaking of Christmas celebrations, I have been reading an excellent book (so far) called small talk - learning from my children about what matters most by amy julia becker. The excerpt on celebration -secular vs sacred - and whether there really needs to be a division when it comes to celebrating Jesus coming to the world was thought provoking. Observing her little girl caused the author to change her attitude about 'the right way' to celebrate.

"Until Penny [her little girl] comes home singing "Jingle Bell Rock" with all her heart. And I realize there is no dividing line for her. Shaking those sleigh bells and belting out those lyrics are part of the celebration. After all, without Jesus' birth, there would be no reason to throw a party. It strikes me again that the whole point of Christmas, theologically speaking, is that the abstract became physical, the conceptual became concrete. For my children, for myself, it's important to celebrate Christmas, not only through words and hymns and spiritual practices, but through the embodiment of celebration and delight, through cookie swaps and presents around the tree and wreaths on the door. And yes, through "Jingle Bell Rock"." 

So, I hope that however your party looks this year - quiet and reflective or boisterous and full of laughter - or both! - that you are once again in awe that God would come down to us in the form of a human baby to walk with His creation  - His masterpiece - for over 30 years. Every once in a while, I am awestruck again by that LOVE. Wow.

It didn't have to be that way. He could have just come down as an  adult and saved us. It seems we often skim over that.. and go straight from Jesus' birth to the cross. But those 33 years of being human like us, being limited, interacting with people from all walks and circumstances, must have been important in God's plan.  Jesus is God in the flesh.. He is how we learn about what God is really like. I still have so much to learn!

Merry Christmas to all my friends out there in Blogland!

For Today..

Outside my window...

I see blue skies, wood stove smoke wafting down  from our chimney, tree branches trembling in the frigid temperatures (-16 C!! = 3.2 F) 

I am thinking... about priorities today...work or play? 

I am thankful...for Christmas purchases done online! 

In the kitchen...I have several lbs of stewing beef thawing in preparation for making Dutch croquettes (can't have Christmas without 'em!)

I am wearing...comfy jeans, my "on second thought" sweater retrieved from the giveaway bag, homemade wool socks, slippers, and silver hoop earrings

I am creating...fingerless mitts from Kenzie wool, a  Christmas gift for my son's girlfriend

I am going...to a dessert fundraiser tonight for our local university's 

International Student Ministries. Dessert and friends - no better combination than that! 

I am wondering...if Sadie Robertson from Duck Dynasty is going to win the mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars (I've been catching the last few episodes online...it's my guilty pleasure! )

I am reading...Let Your Life Speak by Parker J. Palmer

I am hoping...to spend a little time making Christmas cards today. 

I am looking forward to...setting up the Christmas tree in the corner of our living room today. No ornaments and decorations till next Saturday's family brunch, though! I hope I can hold back! 

I am learning to let go of regrets. Sometimes it's the little ones that keep coming back and pestering me. Every happen to you? 

Around the house...hardly a noise but the tap tapping of computer keys, the soothing music of Classical piano and strings on Spotify, and  the lulling sounds of the dishwasher. A quiet Saturday..

I am pondering...why I seem to be misplacing my mitts so often..should probably knit a few more pairs just for me. 

A favourite quote for today...

Lead, Kindly Light..

Keep thou my feet:

I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one

step enough for me

One of my favourite things... is watching really good movies.. any recommendations?

A few plans for the rest of the week: the week's almost over! Wrap up a Christmas gift or two, make some cards, pick up an interlibrary loan book at the library, knit, and hopefully do a bit of online work. It's already early afternoon, so I probably won't actually get to all of that today. But there's always Sunday!  I'm on coffee bar duty, so I'll make a few lattes for fellow gatherers at church tomorrow and visit with a few other couples at our life group tomorrow night. 

A peek into my day...

Join in the fun with The Simple Woman's Daybook here. 

Seeing Green

Green is one of my favorite colors. It reminds me of summer, life, happiness, peacefulness, freshness, and a lot of other pleasant words. In the middle of the coldness and deadness of the winter season, I see green. That's what Christmas is all about..hope, life, peace.

I wish I had taken a picture of my daughter in law's new sweater she recently purchased. It is the most fantastic Christmas green, and with her red hair, she looks so...perfectly festive!

As I scan my surroundings from my perch on the stool, I look around and see green...

house plants

 


candle holders and Christmas tree

 

ornaments

wreath

Are you seeing green today?