There they crucified him.
A notice fastened to the cross:
Jesus of Nazareth;
King of the Jews.
But the teachers cried, No!
Why not, the man who claimed this?
Pilate in reply:
What I have written,
I have written.
Later,
when everything finished,
and Scripture fulfilled,
Jesus said:
I thirst.
Receiving the drink,
It is finished.
With that,
he bowed his head
and gave up his spirit.
After John 19:16-22, 28-30
On this first day of Lent, I’m happy again to post this painting by my dad, which he’s entitled:
Matthew 7:14 “…the way is narrow that leads to life…” Ash Wednesday to Good Friday to Easter
What images in it speak to you? What do you see? What might God be saying to you through it?
Happy Epiphany!
The wise men have made their journey to the toddler Jesus, bringing their gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh. I learned a few things today from our youth worker’s sermon – the Western Church believes there were three wise men (because of the three gifts they brought), but the Eastern Church says there were twelve. Our preacher also made the good point that these visitors were the first outsiders to visit Jesus, thus marking the God-Made-Man’s mission to reach everyone in the world with his message of love, grace, and forgiveness.
Thank you for journeying with me through the twelve days of Christmas! I pray you’ll have a blessed and joyous Ephipanytide.
I leave you with a prayer adapted from the Church of England liturgy:
The magi came from the east to worship your Son: Father, grant to Christians everywhere the spirit of adoration.
The infant Christ received gifts of gold, incense and myrrh: Father, accept the offering of our hearts and minds at the beginning of this year.
The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ: Father, grant an abundance of peace to your world.
Father, in your unfailing love for us and for all people, hear and answer our prayers through your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Amen.
We’ve reached the end of the Christmas season, the twelfth day of Christmas! Tomorrow is Epiphany, when we mark the arrival of the wise men bringing their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to the newborn King.
I’ve been reading about the Twelfth Night parties in England in years past, finding the practices fascinating. Often servants and their masters would change places for the evening, with the master serving the servant. A dried bean or pea would be baked into a spice fruitcake, and whoever found it in their portion would be crowned king or queen of the party. Some of the revelry would include games with eggs – the egg and spoon race, and one that I’d like to try, a “toss the egg” game where a raw egg is thrown between two people at ever increasing lengths between them.
Spiritually, we can consider what gifts we’d like to give to Jesus this year. Perhaps a new emphasis on hospitality, or intercession, or keeping our temper, or increasing our tithing.
Will you celebrate Twelfth Night? If yes, how? What about an Epiphany party? And what gifts would you like to seek to give this year?
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 leave.
He decided to live in solitude, fasting completely for Lent and somehow surviving. Crowds of pilgrims searched him out, seeking advice and, I guess, wanting to “catch” some of his holiness. As he tried to escape the attention, he moved on top of a pillar. He went from stone to stone over the years, moving higher and higher as he sought solitude for his prayers and practices, living the rest of his years on a cold stone platform. Thirty-seven years all together.
As Edward Gibbon remarked in History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
In this last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of devotion. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in the figure of a cross, but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet…
Before I started my MA in Christian spirituality, I wondered about levels mysticism and these extreme forms of austerity and spiritual practice. Had these anchorites reached the pinnacle of spiritual life? I concluded through my MA readings a strong “no.” Although we can learn from those who withdraw from the world, I don’t believe they have a higher status than those who live in community. Transformation of one’s life – not extreme practices of penance or solitude – is what reveals God at work.
But I don’t want to dismiss Simeon all together. The crowds sought him for his wisdom, meaning that even in the desert he couldn’t escape from engagement with others. And he remained humble and obedient to his fellow monks, for when they wondered if he lived on the pillar out of pride or obedience, they demanded that he come down. He obeyed, and so they decided that he was following God – and they let him stay.
Over to you – what do you think of these extreme practices? Have you ever embraced something like a long fast or a time of solitude? If yes, how did you fare? Did you grow in your faith?
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 to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21, NIV).
The very name of Jesus shows his calling – to save us from our sins.
What names come to mind when you think of Jesus? Here are a few you might want to ponder today, as you celebrate during this season of Christmas:
Which names of Jesus speak to you most powerfully?
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 celebrate and feast. I’m keenly aware of those who are grieving or going through other difficulties, who need God’s grace to get through this season, and are probably finding it hard to celebrate. They may be echoing Psalm 137:4: “How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” If that’s you, I pray you’ll find a hint of celebration through rest and recovery.
For me, as we only have twelve days of Christmas, I’m going to seek to embrace the gift that they are – while doing a bit of decluttering and vacuuming by the Christmas tree.
How are you approaching celebrating on this ninth day?
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 a prayer inspired by George Dawson, the English nonconformist (1821–1876), that you might want to join me in praying:
Almighty God, have mercy on us, who, when troubled with the things that are past, lose faith, life, courage, and hope.
So have mercy on us, and uphold us.
Sustain us with a true faith, knowing that you are merciful and forgiving.
Help us to live according to your word, to rejoice in your goodness, to trust in your mercy, and to hope in life with you that never ends.
Help us, whatever we’re going through, to remember that you guide us and lead us.
And in the darkest days, may we know your presence so that we will have courage to go on, faith to endure, patience to bear, and hopefulness to hold out, even unto the end.
Amen.
(Original found in Great Souls at Prayer, compiled by Mary W. Tileston, [Cambridge: James Clark & Co., 1898]).
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 and realized with a jolt that today was New Year’s Eve – and the end of 2018. In my blocked-up state I’ve been pondering a bit about my word for 2019 (#myoneword).
Some years ago I joined this movement that embraces a word for the year instead of making a lot of resolutions that are forgotten after a few weeks. Keeping one word before us – through a visual representation or a reminder on our phone – can help us to stay focused on a word that helps us to live as we wish with God. I usually choose a verse from Scripture to accompany the word as well.
I’ve blogged about #myoneword previously – you can find all of the posts here. One post that might be helpful is how to hear God on your word for the year. My review of the book that started it all off, My One Word, is here.
The first year I tried out this practice I chose flourish, with Isaiah 55:10–11 as the verses:
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
I loved the idea of this word and all of its richness, but for many months forgot about the practice. But in the late spring I remembered it, and printed out some reminders of the word to keep it before me. As I was more intentional about praying about how with God I could flourish, I started to get excited about the possibilities. I saw the word as a promise from God – one that I could forget and ignore, or one that I could embrace as I joined my hands in his.
Other words have been train, with the accompanying verse 2 Timothy 3:16 (about Scripture being God-breathed and useful for training in righteousness); breathe, which spoke to me about rest and breathing in the Spirit of God; present, with the lovely meanings of God’s presence, receiving the present of God’s presence, and the need for me to stay present and in the moment; and in 2018, replenish, with the emphasis on resting and rejuvenating after a very busy couple of years.
As I mentioned above, I haven’t yet discerned what my word will be for 2019. I need to set aside some time to think and pray about this – including going for a walk, which I find is a wonderful way to ponder and pray and enjoy creation.
How about you? Do you choose a word for the year? If so, how has the practice helped you? Do you have a word for 2019?
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 have taken down their Christmas trees and decorations, ready to move into 2019 with a new purpose. It feels countercultural to keep banging on about the days of Christmas, especially in this messy middle (see the wonderful blog by Amy Young by this name), when the wonder of the first days of Christmas seem long past and the end feels a long way off.
How can you make the sixth day of Christmas feel special?