Advent 4.7 - How can this be?

Surprise!

Surprise?

Tonight I'm leading Christmas in a Minor Key, our Blue Christmas service at my home church. It is one of the many surprising twists in my understanding and practice of ministry in the past two years. This wonderful reflection is exactly what I need to get from the beginning to the end of this day. Maybe it will be meaningful to you as well.





HT to Ignatian Spirituality.

Advent 3.6 ~ Mary et al.

I hope that Vinita Wright is good with me dropping these poems of hers in here. I found them when she first posted them ~ she blogs here ~ and could hardly wait for this week, with its focus on Mary, to get here.

I am much taken, in this difficult season, with expressions of the original dislocation it celebrates.

Gabriel

How much shrinking did you have to do
to get into the house?
How much shine had to be rubbed off
to become visible?
Did you carry the plan like a secret fire in the heart,
because such information could cause
a whole new rebellion up there?
And when the girl said yes, how much
did you ache to grow legs and lungs and
a head of hair, just to know the sensation
of your spirit breaking open?

Copyright © 2009 Vinita Hampton Wright

Mary’s Mom

I’d like to know if you noticed anything different
about your daughter. On a particular day, did she seem pale
or out of breath? Was she weepy? Did you have to tell her things twice?
When the truth came out, did you agonize about why
she hadn’t come to you? Did you tell her father, or did she?
And—be honest, now—when you, being the mother, being a woman,
understood the situation, didn’t you enjoy some moments
of sheer satisfaction? Didn’t you say to God, one eyebrow arched,
“You couldn’t have picked a better one”?

Copyright © 2009 Vinita Hampton Wright

Advent 3.5 - Tanner's Annunciation

It would not be Advent without this painting, would it?

I tried to "borrow" a friend's close-up, but it refused to permit itself to be lifted. Perhaps you can see it here.

Two years ago, I had this to say:

This might be my favorite painting in the world. All over the internet this time of year, it remains fresh to me. In the past I've liked it because, frankly, Mary looks a lot like I did as a very young woman, and her puzzled expression confirms the likeness.

This year, I've noticed other things. The messy bed. The worn surroundings.

The uncompromising light.

Is that what we pray for, when we are so bruised and fragile that the flames of the advent candles threaten to engulf us in sorrow?

A birth that can lead only to Good Friday, because it is only there that we can be sure that God knows us?

Uncompromising, indeed.

And a year ago, this:

Last year it was that uncompromising pillar of light that drew me in.

This year, it's the rumpled and perplexed young woman. I'm not young anymore, but I am most certainly rumpled and perplexed.

And this year?

As evidence of our profound capacity to project ourselves into what we observe, when I looked at this painting online yesterday I no longer saw messiness or perplexity or the worn surroundings. My eye was drawn straight to her face (which was why I was excited about my friend's enlargement of that detail). I saw, in that youthful expression, a directness and calm as she looked into the face of her future that could only reflect the peace of acceptance of all that it would bring.

I'm not there yet but, just as I always try to "preach ahead" of myself, so now I try to "live ahead" of myself.

Perhaps if you stare long enough into a light that uncompromising, some of it rubs off on you.

Time for My Favorite Painting

Henry Ossawa Tanner's Annunciation

Last year it was that uncompromising pillar of light that drew me in.

This year, it's the rumpled and perplexed young woman. I'm not young anymore, but I am most certainly rumpled and perplexed.

Tanner's Annunciation

This might be my favorite painting in the world. All over the internet this time of year, it remains fresh to me. In the past I've liked it because, frankly, Mary looks a lot like I did as a very young woman, and her puzzled expression confirms the likeness.

This year, I've noticed other things. The messy bed. The worn surroundings.

The uncompromising light.

Is that what we pray for, when we are so bruised and fragile that the flames of the advent candles threaten to engulf us in sorrow?

A birth that can lead only to Good Friday, because it is only there that we can be sure that God knows us?

Uncompromising, indeed.

Advent List, Week One, Year One

1. extravaganza holiday lighting house yard trees neighborhood friends who do not believe in God

2. eggnog I used to love eggnog

3. Pier I sparkly wrapping paper ornaments dishes

4. packed church trumpet accompaniment O Come O Come Emmanuel

5. Key West guidebook shall we go to a galaxy far far away

6. Tanner Annunciation I see things in it I have never seen before

7. nativity set all those Italian pieces purchased to charm small children stored in the basement can I bear to unpack it

8. doctor's office magazines there are more heart attacks on December 25 than on any other day

9. rain slush sleet snow clouds gray

10. the people who walked in darkness