“Reminders of home,” she called them. I looked up from my coffee and out the window as my friend casually gestured to the seagulls outside. Seeing that I wore confusion on my face, she elaborated. “Seagulls, anywhere but the sea are reminders that we are travelers on the way; that we will always be foreigners until we are home.” 

I was reminded of her observation on the way to the grocery store this week as, you guessed it, I watched the seagulls (Gulls! My high school biology teacher would be sure to correct me) circling the parking lot. Why they do this, I will never understand. I will be forever grateful for her insight because of their ever-present company circling above the parking lot light posts and unintentionally calling me out of myself. 

We are approaching Holy Week once again, and although I tell myself we listen to the story for my children, I suspect I will always go back to C.S. Lewis this time of year, allowing fauns, beavers, and Aslan, to guide me out of the season of ‘eternal winter.’ Because good children’s stories are timeless and communicate important truths, I am paying attention to light posts. This delicious ritual alongside Madeline L’Engle’s encouragement (Walking on Water) to tesseract our way to places, uninhibited by time and space, as we are in art.

And so we all do, as we navigate Passiontide, becoming pilgrims, having our feet washed after the last supper on Holy Thursday, venerating the Cross on Good Friday, feeling the ache of the tomb on Holy Saturday, and rejoicing on Easter Sunday. 

In the same way, passing gulls remind me of the eventual hope of heaven; entering into Holy Week puts into practice our ability to be present in the Paschal Mystery right now. 

Whether with Aslan, Mrs. Whatsit, Mary, Simon, Mary Magdalene, or the Crucified Lord, I pray that you are accompanied through this holiest of weeks and that it is deeply meaningful. I’ve included a variety of reflections from previous years if you are looking for ways to enter more deeply into Holy week:

Maundy Thursday, Lodgepoles

Holy Thursday & an invitation, if you didn’t get to join the Catholic Social Teaching Spotlight last year, you can find it all here.

Good Friday, I hear you, Mary

Holy Saturday, see below for a reflection I shared for a local volunteer group this week

Easter Sunday, Scripture verses about Resurrection

Be on the lookout for a prayer I’m sharing with Mothering Spirit this week, for when we cannot afford the luxury of Lent.

Holy Saturday

A reading from the Gospel according to Luke:

It was the day of preparation, and the sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come from Galilee with him followed behind, and when they had seen the tomb and the way in which his body was laid in it, they returned and prepared spiced and perfumed oils. Then they rested on the sabbath according to the commandment.

//

It had been a long day.

Take a minute to imagine how these women must have been feeling.

Luke, always sure to include detail about the presence of women, describes that it was Jesus’ friends Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary who stayed until the bitter end of the longest day. Long enough to see where it was that Jesus’ body would be laid because, in all practicality, they were preparing to do what came next: anoint him. His friends were preparing themselves to prepare his body for burial in the Jewish tradition. Not only that, but they were in a hurry because it was nearly dusk, and as faithful Jews themselves, they would have been going home to observe Shabbat.

Perhaps you have found yourself in a similar position. A place where your heart hasn’t had time to catch up to what is being asked of your hands. Your head is not processing, and your heart has not accepted the truth of what is plainly before you. 

This experience is one of shock, grief, and disbelief, all co-mingling and taking up residence. Most are familiar with the stages of grief, which begin with denial. Instinctive or otherwise, denial numbs us from the whiplash of what was true and isn’t any longer because we simply cannot catch up, emotionally. 

Think about what these women, all of the disciples, must have been trying to reconcile: Jesus was not who he said he was.

Just hours earlier, they were eagerly watching to see how their friend Jesus, Son of God was going to be made known to the world. Their friend, the One they had come to know as the miracle worker and Messiah, had come to set Israel free and reign, victorious. But…

Imagine their confusion when Jesus does not approach the Sanhedrin with force or might. Imagine their humiliation as the One they had come to believe would be their Savior, is mocked, spit upon, and stripped of his clothing in front of the jeering crowd. Jesus was not the heavenly King they expected–he was all too human, and his crucifixion proved it.

We have to begin here, in this place of deep desolation, and in the context of previous days’ events, to fully appreciate what the women were about to undertake as they made preparations to bury Jesus, alongside their hopes of a Savior.

Mary Magdalene, Mary, and Joanna showed up at the place of pain and humiliation–their beloved Jesus’, and their own (how could they have gotten it so wrong?!). The very tactile act of mixing burial spices, making tangible again the truth they hoped not to believe.

They didn’t have to show up–in fact, most didn’t. It’s not clear where the rest of Jesus’ disciples spent ‘holy Saturday.’ After all, purity laws being what they were, being in contact with the dead at the dawn of Shabbat would have made them ritually unclean, and Jesus appeared to be a fraud. But, despite their deep grief, and out of love for their friend, they rolled up their sleeves and took on this work of mercy to dignify their beloved.

There is wisdom for us here, of course. 

The women in Luke’s Gospel are small figures in the greater Easter story, but we find them giving, digging in when the world appeared not to be watching. Disillusioned as they may have been, they showed up, imperfectly carrying out the next step on a journey they couldn’t understand or predict. Not so different from us on any given day.

In the same way that we venerate the Cross and acknowledge Jesus’ agony on Good Friday, we might do well to spend some time in prayer with the faithfulness of Jesus’ friends on Holy Saturday.

-Who do you love that has disillusioned you, and what is your posture toward them?

-Which of your hopes have gone unfulfilled? How do you choose to move forward?

-Have you left room in the space between your head and your heart for the Christ to do something illogical, unpredictable, and unimaginable?

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Happy New Year!

I hope this finds you adjusting to writing 20 instead of 19—or 2020 as my oldest warned me, so that time travelers do not come in and try to re-write history by post-dating my entries.

Food for thought, anyway.

It seems books are the way that I often choose to get my footing in a new year. I load up my library cart and hope that they popular books get delivered to me at a pace with which I can keep up (this is never how it works). I love making lists of the books I didn’t get to last year, suggestions I’ve received, or things I hope to learn about in the coming year—so if you have some recommendations, please share!

My top five books from 2019 include:

Island of Sea Women, The Nightingale, Educated, Everything Happens for a Reason & Other Lies I’ve Loved, Where the Crawdads Sing

In this library cart stuffing-frenzy, I also added Miss. Rumphius for our kiddos and was delighted by her message which I haven’t heard in ages:

Essentially when Alice Rumphius tells her artist grandfather her plans for her life she describes going to faraway places, and growing old beside the sea. He tells her that there is a third thing she must do: ‘Make the world more beautiful.’ She agrees, but has no idea what that might mean and the story ensues.

Like any good book reading mama, I asked the girls what they thought they might like to do to make the world more beautiful. Just like Alice, they sort of shrugged and said they couldn’t think of anything. As I closed the book, my oldest asked what I am doing to make the world more beautiful…

Funny how often we assume children’s books are for children.

I haven’t given her my answer yet, but I am savoring the question. The timing is ripe with possibility. Whether or not I’ve started with the task, it is liberating because we can start anytime, or every year–every day, even.

The short list for today includes:

           -Raising kiddos

           -Raising bees/flowers (as a side, here is a really thought-provoking article about modern           beekeeping)

          – On good days, sharing words in hopes that they land where they’re most needed

How about you? What beautiful thing(s) would you choose to leave as your legacy?

*For Miss. Rumphius, it’s lupines.

Prayer pledge

The image that has had my attention lately, is the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Admittedly it isn’t one I have spent a great deal of time with before, which is perhaps why I’ve been captivated. This is the theme for the 2020 prayer pledge for the month of January, put on through Blessed Is She. I am excited to share with you that I was able to contribute the reflections for the final week of January. It has been a real gift to read other writer’s insights on the same theme, which helps to broaden my own awareness of Christ’s penetrating love. (It’s not too late to sign up if you’d like to follow along! Subscribe here for daily prayer pledge reflections).

Whether you are seeking beauty in book lists, seed catalogs, cherished photographs, prayer, music,  dear friends; I pray that the New Year will provide a foundation for those things, and an invitation for new ideas!

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.

-John Muir

***

Lastly, if you’re already looking ahead to Lent next month and would like to participate in the Lenten journal through Blessed Is She, my friend Laura Kelly Fanucci is the reflection writer, and if you have read her work, you know it is soul-stirring. Orders fill up fast, so don’t wait. If you order, please consider using my affiliate link—thanks!

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If there is one subject I could spend a lot of time talking about, it would be children’s books. Maybe when I’m at a different stage in life, I will become a librarian. Until then, I’m content burning up my library card to discover new children’s books. And, truth be told, I often gravitate toward books as gifts, too. If you’re looking for new reading for littles, or gift ideas for kids in your world, read on. *I’d love your endorsements as well!

Board Book Favorites for Littles

Counting Kisses, Karen Katz

God Gave Us You, Lisa Tawn Bergren

Barnyard Dance, Sandra Boynton

Moo, Baa, La La La, Sandra Boynton

What’s Wrong Little Pookie, Sandra Boynton

Along Came You, Karona Drummand

How Many Kisses Do You Want Tonight?, Varsha Bajaj

1-2-3 Peas, Keith Baker

Jamberry, Bruce Degen

Goodnight Gorilla, Peggy Rathmann

The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats

All Creatures Great & Small, illustrated by Naoko Stoop

Favorite Baptism/First Communion Gift Books

Look & Find Bible:  Gill Guile (Illustrator), B&H Editorial Staff (Editor)

Images of God for Young Children, Marie-Helene Delval and Barbara Nascimbeni

Psalms for Young Children,  Marie-Helene Delval (Author), Arno (Illustrator)

You Are Special, Max Lucado

Favorite Picture Books

The Mitten, Jan Brett

Hedgie’s Surprise, Jan Brett (anything by Jan Brett)

Mountain Day, Mountain Night, Anthony D. Fredericks

Sleep Tight, Farm,Eugene Doyle

Cowpoke Clyde Rides the Range, Lori Mortensen

Cowpoke Clyde and the Dirty Dog, Lori Mortensen

The Lorax, Dr. Suess

Pete the Cat, Eric Litwin

Can You Canoe, The OkeeDokee Brothers

Whose Tail on the Trail?, Midji Stephenson

Thunder Cake, Patricia Polacco

Ernestine’s Milky Way (Great gift for a 5 year old), Kerry Madden-Lundsford

The Song and Dance Man,Karen Ackerman

Guess How Much I Love You,Sam McBratney

Up the Creek, Nicholas Oldland

This Old Band, Tamera Will Wissinger (Hilarious western story-song to the tune of This old Man).

Tiki Tiki Tembo, re-told by Arlene Mosel

Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey

The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams

Berlioz the Bear, Jan Brett

Mother Bruce,Ryan T.Higgins (about a bear who accidentally adopts 4 goslings while trying to cook them)

The Gingerbread Cowboy, Janet Squires

Search & Find:

Around the Town All Year ‘Round, Rotraut Susanne

New Readers

Usborne Phonics Readers (It’s likely you already know an Usborne representative)

I Can Read Series

Bernstein Bears

The Big Blue Book of Beginners Books

Next Steps

Magic Tree House Series, Mary Pope Osborne

Junie B. Jones series, Barbara Park

Nancy Clancy series, Jane O’Connor

Amelia Bedelia, Herman Parish

Older grades 3+

American Girls collections

Roald Dahl–particularly the BFG

Romona Quimby series, Beverly Cleary

Little House on the Prairie, Laura Ingalls Wilder

Boxcar Children, Gertrude Chandler Warner

Fudge/Superfudge/Fudge-a-mania, Judy Blume’s

Read Aloud stories:

Charlotte’s Webb, E.B. White

The Trumpet and the Swan, E.B. White

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, & Chronicals of Narnia, CS Lewis

Little Women, Louisa May Alcott

Christmas Stories

Who’s that Knocking on Christmas Eve?, Jan Brett

The Cobweb Christmas, Shirley Climo

Pippin the Christmas Pig, Jean Little

How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Suess

Christmas Tree Ship, Carol Crane

The Elves & the Shoemaker,  Tiger Tales , Erica-Jane Waters 

Brigid’s Cloak, Bryce Milligan

Christmas Farm, Mary Lyn Ray

The Candymaker’s Gift, Helen Haidle

The Country Angel Christmas, Tomie de Paola

The Legend of the Poinsettia, Tomie de Paola

Cobweb Christmas, Shirley Climo

The post Working children’s book recommendations & Gift idea lists appeared first on Unexpected Honey.

Funny story. 

My daughter’s teacher sent out a request for family members to come in and talk about their holiday traditions. I mentioned that I’d be interested in reading my favorite book, Pippin the Christmas Pig, and like any good teacher who knows the value of volunteers, she graciously encouraged me to come.

I did a test-run last night, mostly to make sure that the story held the same appeal for my kids that it does for me–and I choked. I mean, couldn’t speak-tears-in-my-eyes kind of attempt reading aloud the simple truth of the Incarnation in the book is so profoundly beautiful. So my task before next week is to be able to make it through the darn book with some level of composure. [This remains a life goal as I listen to Paul Harvey’s “The Man and the Birds,” Johnny Cash’s Christmas Guest,  Danielle Rose’s Let Me Be Your Bethlehem, The Gift by Aselin Debison…the list goes on.]

It won’t surprise you then, to know that I feel pretty passionately about the importance of hearing the name Emmanuel and calling God by the name Emmanuel, God With Us. As someone who has gone by a nickname for most of her life, it is the difference of being addressed in the casualness of a nickname, compared to the core feeling of being called by my given name that more deeply names who I am. I hear it and feel it differently. I hear and feel Emmanuel more intimately than I hear Jesus. 

I have not found a name that compares to the comfort Emmanuel brings my heart. So, obviously this season has my full attention as the time where we hear again, God’s desire to be near us…in flesh, even.

In a nutshell,  I’m delighting in this season.

Paradox

On this sunny December morning, I’m also sharing about the Advent practice of waiting in the darkness, a practice of anticipation that is slow in coming. What I envisioned in my mind’s eye was an overcast, wintry morning, with pink and purple sky to accompany these thoughts. I should have known. What’s the expression?…’We make plans. God laughs.’

But maybe there is some new shaft of illumination for you and I in this season that we can only see when looking with eyes that have adjusted to the dark; adjusted to the wait. What growth, what peace, what mystery might we encounter if we have the courage to wait it out in the dark—not out of allegiance to what was last year, or anticipation of what is coming soon? [Read more here.]

Missing the point.

I should know this by now, of course–not to be surprised, I mean, by the ways my own plans do not amount to what I expect they might. And this is the point! At least that’s what I read in the foreword of the Advent journal I’m using this year. Fr. John Parks compares the ways that people have historically wandered: through the wilderness, through the desert, away from God,even. Then, and now, like a GPS, God seemingly ‘recalculates’ a return route to himself–a million new ways the story could end.  

The same can be true of Advent. In our mind’s eye, don’t we see the candles, tree, cookies, calendar, gifts, and gatherings in their pristine, glistening goodness? When in fact, there’s a chance our tree has tipped at least once, most of the chocolates have been eaten from the calendars, and the gifts are somewhere in our carts and might as well just remain there if you’ve seen the line at the post office lately.

But Christ shows up here, too. 

Not because Christmas is coming, but because God is always with us;  pursuing us. He will continue to do it again and again, despite our laughable expectations and detours.

Christmas currency

Around here, I’m attempting to put a new approach to Advent into practice. It’s something that is working for me, not  anything I’d prescribe for anyone else. I took my friend Laura’s advice to pretend that Christmas is at the end of November, and decided to find as many gifts as possible second-hand. In doing these two things, I am not shopping in December, and I am not spending money like a zealot.  I can appreciate the smaller impact this has on the environment, and it has freed up time for me to serve others by stepping into roles I typically would avoid or not have time for– making stockings for the 2nd graders, driving to the nearest mountain ranger station to purchase tree-cutting permits, allowing my children to attend their friend’s birthdays which happen to fall in December. *In other words, time has become my Christmas currency, in this single income household.

I hesitate to pile on any other ideas or experiences of how-to anything because who has time or patience for that at this point? This is an unpracticed new tradition which has me in my neighborhood talking to my neighbors, in thrift stores learning about the ways they serve our community, and trying to keep the spirit of the season simple and joyful. Happily, I think it is working.

I’ll close with a note I  found that I had written myself and posted in my kitchen cabinet. I have no recollection of doing it and taping it up there–but it’s my handwriting and it’s a perfect inspiration for the season–my prayer is that it whispers the peace you might be searching for, today. Enjoy!

The Incarnation began with Jesus and it has never stopped…God takes on flesh so that every home becomes a church, every child becomes the Christ-child, and all food and drink become a sacrament. God’s many faces are now everywhere in flesh, tempered and turned down so that our human eyes can see him.

-Ronald Rolheiser, OMI

Abundant Advent blessings–whatever expectations you have, or detours you may find yourself on this season.

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