Category: church calendar

Spiral: Circling Around a Central Point

Silence is praise to you
    Zion-dwelling God,
And also obedience.
    You hear the prayer in it all. (Psalm 65:1 The Message)

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Happy New Year! I love saying that this time of year, because you probably think I can’t read a calendar. But in the realm of the church calendar, it is the greeting to expect. The liturgical year begins with Advent.

We often associate Advent with counting down the days until Christmas. Many novelty and craft stores offer Advent calendars with pockets for notes or miniature doors with chocolate candy behind them. (I used to get the candy ones for our boys. Last year they agreed that they might be a little too old, seeing that they are in their mid-twenties. And they admitted the chocolates weren’t that tasty.) So we put a tradition to rest.

As a family, each year our Advent observances would vary. We had a wreath with the traditional purple, pink and white candles. One year, I bought a wrought iron candelabra for our Advent centerpiece. And a couple years ago, I spied this wooden spiral wreath crafted by a young man in Canada,which I would have purchased, except my husband thought he could replicate it. I agreed to give him the pleasure of crafting one for our family.

I don’t know why, but the spiral design intrigues me. It evokes movement. The spiral reminds me of a path that leads me along on a journey. A journey that looks like shepherds, flocks, angels and kings and a holy family. A holy family that invites me to take the pilgrimage to the interior landscape of my soul.

My soul being the place that longs for connections. Connections that intertwine present day expectations with memories of the past. The past cries out for me to hope into the future. Life can spiral out of control, yet the spiral circles around  to the central point.

The central point being: What will I center my Christmas desires around this year? Will I embrace the silence or scramble to recreate outgrown traditions? Will I rush to make rash judgments about others or will I walk in joyful obedience to love others? Will I see both silence and obedience as forms of prayer?  To be honest I will weave in and out of these questions on a daily basis.

The spiral reminds me that I don’t have to waver, there is a path that leads to joy-filled days. (See Psalm 16:11) The spiral reminds me that God’s grace surrounds me every moment, clearing away the debris of sin and ushering in His mercy and peace and forgiveness.

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How does your life spiral these days: frantically veering out of control or joyfully twirling in the presence of God? What connections are you making with the past, present and future as we behold the coming of the King?

Posted on by kelrohlf 5

Season of Joy

 
He grants the desires of those who fear him;
He hears their cries for help
and rescues them.
(Psalm 145:19 NLT)
 
 
 
 
On Easter Sunday, we gathered around my mom’s picnic table feasting on the spread placed before us. Afterwards, I gave the nieces and nephews tote bags for them to keep their jammies and bedtime books safe and in one place. Patrick proclaimed himself a hobo, and the three little ones paraded around the yard with their “hobo” bags. I don’t remember telling them about my hobo honeymoon Lenten journey, but it made me smile that they wanted to be hobos.
 
Then Loryn, the youngest, surprised me with a presentation and a gift she made for me. She ran in the house and came back with her hands behind her back. She said something like:
 
First: I love you. Second: You’re the best aunt and so are all my other aunts. Third: This is a gift for Easter.
 
She handed me a scrap of notebook paper with words scrawled in her own hand, with one correction made by her mom.
 
I read it out loud to all present, and barely could keep from choking back tears as God loved me in words from the pen of a child. (I was touched by her desire to record her worship experience with pen and paper.)
 
 
 
 
She wrote:
 
Today I am going to church.
Day 1: Alive  
God is always with you.
You can hare (hear) God.
God loves you.
God is always in your hearts.
 
As I read the sentence, “You can hare (hear) God,” it pierced my heart, because earlier that morning I was doubting my ability to hear. Later my sister told me that was the exact question she and Loryn were discussing at church. Loryn knew God heard her, but she wondered if we could hear God. Her mom assured her that we can hear God, so Loryn wrote it down, affirming her new found truth.
 
The other message that seemed directed to my heart was; “Day 1: Alive.” After these past forty days of observing the fast of Lent, I sensed that in her simple way of keeping track of the first day in her journal and the title of the sermon, she hit on another truth. Easter Sunday is Day 1. We can keep counting on the aliveness of Jesus each day. Alleluia!
 
 
Day 2: Alive! Jesus lives and I am glad to be alive!
 
And for those following the church calendar, I was pleased to be reminded that Easter is a season, not just one Sunday. I look forward to the continued feasting which lasts fifty days, until Pentecost. Grace, grace, God’s grace!
 
 
Posted on by kelrohlf 3