I love to explore used book stores.  I truly can spend hours there journeying through pages of discarded treasures.  It is like a double blessing!  I experience the original mind and gifts of the writer and illustrator, but also the shared presence of another who turned these pages, and pondered these words. It is as if we all become one, huddled there together in the thoughts and expressions of another world.

Recently I found a children’s book entitled “One Candle”, or it found me.  The story of treasured hope is written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by K. Wendy Popp.  A grandmother tells the story of her experiences as a child with her sister in a German camp. As Jews, they were captives of hate, separated from their family at ages 12 and 13.  When Hanukkah approached, the girls smuggled from the kitchen a blob of margarine, two matches, and a potato.  With great fear they passed the guards and risked their lives.

Back in their barrack they carved a hole in the potato, filled it with margarine, pulled a thread from their garment for a wick,  and lit a flame.  It became their sign of hope.

“The candle lifted us to the stars!”, the grandmother said as she relayed the story to her grandchildren and re-enacted the carving of the potato.  She will never forget.  Her grandchildren will never forget.

It seems during Advent the lighting of a candle becomes more important and meaningful.  Advent is a place of waiting in hope for HOPE.  The Christ Child is the HOPE of the world.  This Advent song expresses our hope..

nk

Pondering…

What might be the story of hope you would pass along to future generations?

I invite you to find a quiet moment and light a candle of hope.

This past July I did a renewal of vows for a couple in their 80’s who were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary.

At this moment in the middle of exchanging their vows, he excitedly jumps in and asks me, “Can I kiss her now?”  It wasn’t quite time yet, but I had to laugh.  He couldn’t WAIT.  I loved it!  Not only because I am not a very patient person myself, but even more….after all these years, he still couldn’t wait to kiss her!

Advent is a time of waiting.  The engulfing embrace of God is just around the corner, yet it is still the time of waiting.  The waiting is now more intense than ever.  We are actively waiting.  And we are not waiting alone…we are waiting together.  Advent is a communal experience as God is coming to earth to physically embrace the entirety of humanity on one holy night.  We wait and watch together.

Waiting together is important!  There are some persons this Advent who are experiencing pain or sorrow.  They have been waiting too long.  Waiting alone has become too difficult.  You and I must stand beside them, lift up their head to the promised coming, whisper to their heart and hold the faith together.  I am reminded of the song “Glorious Unfolding”…

My friend, if you are hurting tonight, I am waiting with you in this Advent journey of the “Glorious Unfolding”.  We will all run through fields of forever together!

(Artistic quilt of painting and stitching entitled “Wheat Field” by Melissa Burdon of New Zealand).

nk

Pondering…

With whom are you waiting this Advent?

Advent is a time of longing.  The words of the Advent song “O Come, O Come Emmanuel” are the cry of those who long for God to come.  The word “Emmanuel” means “God with us”.  We are lonely for God.  Here is a quote from Sun Gazing…

That’s it!  Could it be that longing is a gift?  Perhaps without the longing we would not realize that we need God, that we belong to God, that our hearts are empty without God. In Romans chapter 8, Paul talks about the eager longing of all creation for the revealing of the children of God.  The Spirit of God joins our spirits to pray for us, with us, in groanings too deep for words.  We long for God to be with us because we belong to God.  Here are some faces of longing…

This is a statue I saw in Croatia.

The following are three quilts I saw at the International Quilt show in Houston, Texas on Nov. 3, 2016.  They are truly amazing!  (Tap on the photos to enlarge on your screen).

Esperanza is a word which means “hope” in Spanish.

And now, here are a few words from the poem “Alone” by Maya Angelou…

Advent is a time of longing, and God is coming.  It’s a promise!

nk

Pondering…

In which of the photos do you see yourself?

Where do you experience a deep longing? …for yourself? …for others? …for the world?

 

I woke up at 3:50 a.m. thinking about this blog.  Thanksgiving is coming and our minds are flooded with thoughts of food and getting together with family and friends for a special meal.  This brought to mind for me some unique food experiences I have had this year in my travels to Croatia.  The first was on the boat…

One evening a local fisherman came on board with his fresh catch of oysters.  Many passengers who love oysters were elated!  I had never tasted oysters before and had no big craving to do so.  However, anticipating the fisherman’s arrival, Darko, our wonderful, enthusiastic, charming tour director put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You will try oysters!”.  Well….sure!

This is a photo of me and my two dear friends at the moment I had just swallowed my first oyster.  They are smiling because they are thinking, “She did it and we don’t have to!”  My smile is fake actually…I am  not certain if the oyster is still slithering down or on its way to slithering back up!

Then there was a visit to the home of a priest….

We all sat around two long tables and were served home cooked smelts. Another first for me!  Ah, Darko must have known as he once again stood behind me with his hands on my shoulders and said, “You will try the smelts!”  The what??  Yikes!  Why ME?  Suddenly they appeared on the table with a whiff of a fishy smell…smelts!  Their eyes were staring at me…

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and bit into a smelt.  Not too bad actually.  The crunchiness of those little bodies being fried in batter was a bit fun.  I just needed a good dip to go with them!

At the conclusion of the meal, which consisted only of smelts, please notice that our table finished our plate and the other table did not!  No thanks to me by the way, but I was proud of us.  (Although some don’t look like they feel too good).

Another evening we went to the home of a Croatian family who had prepared a meal for us.  It was delightful!  I don’t remember much about the food except that it was good.  What I remember was the hospitality and strangers coming together to share a meal, becoming friends.  The children, parents, grandparents were all there with us.  It seemed important to them.

What a beautiful family.  I especially like the photo of the Mom and her daughter.  As I looked closer I noticed on the wall just behind them hangs a picture of Jesus and his disciples at the Last Supper, the Great Thanksgiving.  Oh YES!  Here, subtly yet profoundly present,  is the true meaning of it all.  We are invited to be one at the table of Christ.  It is about love, unity, fellowship, and the joy of being together!  (It is at this point, 4:30 a.m. in my bed, that I actually gave  a thumbs up to God and got up to write the blog)!

I pray yours is a GREAT THANKSGIVING !

nk

P.S.  I will begin a daily Advent blog on Monday November 28 and continue each week day through Christmas.  I invite you to join me here each weekday and please invite any others as well.  Just click “follow” if you would like the blog post to be automatically sent to your email each day.  We will anticipate and celebrate once again and always the coming of the Christ Child.

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Moments with grandchildren are always fun!  This was especially true last week in Atlanta for Halloween..

Sunday morning church with Travis.

Pumpkin Olympics with Callie at her school.

First place family costume contest…Star Wars!

Our super pilots Rae and Darth Vader.

A special moment happened in Church as I sat beside Molly in worship…such a precious time for me. As we sat together I noticed something in the sanctuary at Mt Bethel United Methodist Church.  A dove perched high upon a stand. I had not noticed it before, and had never seen a sculpture of a dove before present in the sanctuary.  It appeared as if it had just flown in through the window and heightened my awareness of the presence of the Holy Spirit for me.

After worship, Molly and I stood outside the sanctuary in a rotunda area  between two doors open to the outside.  I was explaining to her how God exists as one person, yet three in one called the Trinity…Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   “The Holy Spirit is God present with us now, around us and inside us.  It’s like the wind.  You can’t see it, but you can see its manifestation”, I explained.  “Like those leaves on the tree blowing”, Molly said, pointing to the tree outside the open door.  “Yes!  And we can feel the wind”, I continued.  Just then, a wind blew through the open door and we felt the breeze around us and  between us like an embrace.  “Like that?”, smiles Molly.  “Yes!  Just like that!”  We hugged each other. We both knew.  God was present in that very moment.

Indeed, there was a special wind blowing all weekend.  Thanks God!

nk