Blog
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Celebrating the eleventh day of Christmas: Extreme spirituality
The eleventh day of Christmas coincides with the feast day of Simeon Stylites (c. 390? – 2 September 459). No, I hadn’t heard of him either. He was zealous for Christ, entering a monastery before he 16 years old. So committed was he to acts of extreme austerity that the other monks asked him to…
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Celebrating the tenth day of Christmas: The name of Jesus
On the tenth day of Christmas, some Christian traditions celebrate the naming of Jesus in the temple (other traditions celebrate this on January 1). When the angel appeared to Joseph, he learned what to name the boy, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit: But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared…
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Celebrating the ninth day of Christmas: Countercultural celebrations
Today, on the ninth day of Christmas, it feels countercultural to celebrate the season. Part of me would like to take down the Christmas decorations while cleaning and doing some decluttering. The newness of the year feels like a push toward embracing all things clean and fresh. So sometimes it feels like a discipline to…
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Celebrating the eighth day of Christmas: Happy new year!
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17) We enter 2019 with hopes and dreams, and perhaps some fears. May we know God’s loving presence as we journey through the seasons, that he might strengthen our faith and dispel the fears. Here’s…
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Celebrating the seventh day of Christmas: Looking back and looking ahead with #myoneword
We have reached the final day of 2018. Many people will be grateful to leave behind this year with its acrimony, fear, tragedy, disappointment, and divisiveness. May we find greater unity and joy in 2019. In the middle of this Christmas season of celebration, and battling a head cold, I lost track of the days…
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Celebrating the sixth day of Christmas: The murky middle
On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… Can you remember? Six maids a milking? Geese a laying? An online search says I got it right with the second guess. My memory for that popular song is murky, just as this point in the Christmas season can feel murky. Many people…
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Celebrating the fifth day of Christmas: Remembering Thomas Becket
The paradox of feasting while calling to mind the martyrs of days past continues as we celebrate the life of Thomas Becket on the fifth day of Christmas. He was named Archbishop of Canterbury in 1162 by King Henry II, to whom he was a chief minister. Henry hoped that by appointing Thomas as archbishop…
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Celebrating the fourth day of Christmas: Marking Holy Innocents day
The Christmas season is for celebrating, but it doesn’t shy away from the horrors of this world, such as the slaughter of “holy innocents.” The day marks the killing of all the boys in Bethlehem under two by Herod, a jealous and volatile king: …an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.…
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Celebrating the third day of Christmas: The wonder of lights and ornaments
This morning, one of the participants in the Woman Alive book club Facebook group posted this comment: “If people want to mark the 12 days of Christmas how do they keep the spirit alive when other people think it’s over? I’m back to work this morning and I’ve already seen one post of Facebook about…
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Celebrating the second day of Christmas: Around the Christmas tree
Happy second day of Christmas! I love this painting by my dad, for it evokes Christmases in the family home growing up in Minnesota, where my parents still live, and where they celebrated on Christmas Eve with all the family (except us). That “except us” is the poignant bit, isn’t it. Christmas is a wonderful…
