November 3 for 3: the Early Because Advent's Coming edition
A curated list of what I've been up to lately plus work from other creators and cultivators who are helping us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty.
Well, what do you know, friends? 2020 could get weirder. I need to say that imagining the gazillions of ordinary people working behind the scenes to do the tedious work of counting ballots all month long goes near the top of the list of "unexpected delights" about the world right now.
Every single year about mid-October I begin to feel the warm whisper of anticipation for Advent. It says "Good prayer time is ahead." in my ear. Every early summer I wait for Ordinary Time like the last day of school when I can throw off the structure of the liturgical calendar but by late autumn I'm so ready for the rhythms of prayer and worship Advent ushers in.
It's a bit funny, I guess, to look forward to the arrival of a season that's entirely committed to helping us remember we're all waiting for an arrival. Our ancestors waited in the long dark centuries between the messengers and the Messiah. We're all waiting again. In between those two time periods, a few folks recognized that salvation sprang up from the ground in the person of Jesus. For 33 years God rent the heavens and came down. And somehow, the humble, dark days of Advent offer us a container sturdy enough to believe again that Jesus came, Jesus comes, and Jesus is coming again.
Take heart, friend. Our best days are ahead. When we remember the beauty of Christ's arrival, that is really saying something.
Peace of Christ our King to you all,
Tamara
p.s. Sharing the 3 for 3 post a bit early this month because I’m taking a blogging vacation next week to celebrate Thanksgiving and our THIRTIETH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY!
Some of what I’ve been working on the past few weeks.
Join us by clicking on the link below!
1. Daybook Patrons: We completed the Ordinary Time Daybook posts for 2020!
Ordinary Time is the longest season of the church calendar - a season of working and resting with Christ as he brings God's kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Don’t miss this week’s Daybookpost for Christ the King Sunday, featuring an image from artist Caitlin Connelly that I’ve been returning to all year.
2. Stories & Daybook Patrons: Five-Minute Fridays
This week I published the final Five-Minute Friday post in 2020. I'm planning to bring the series back in 2021 modified to share chapters for an e-book. Stay tuned for a preview in December!
Here are my November Five-Minute stories:
3. Advent begins next Sunday!
Read last week's post where I share a bunch of exciting Advent news with you: 3 places to be together this Advent!
I've been waking up between 4 and 6 every day the past couple of weeks like it's Christmas morning, excited to get to work on some projects for us to sink into the season of Advent beginning November 29.
Don't miss #3 - Advent at Home with the Black Barn Online!
Here is a link you can use if you are not already a member of the Black Barn Online:
This is an external link, which means it is a "bundle" of sorts. It will direct you to activate your free membership in the Black Barn while also purchasing access to Advent at Home for $19.99.
November’s been about endings and beginnings.
We completed the Calling Stories series, a refreshed and reimagined series of guest posts for Ordinary Time. If what you thought was strength has begun to feel like weakness this year and finding rest has felt strangely hard, I know you’ll be encouraged by Katie's update: Katie Fox’s strangely hard search for rest in 2020
Thank you to each guest who sent an update this year. If you haven’t yet, I highly encourage you to read their 2020 reflections:
We began a conversation about some new offerings I’m sharing this Advent: 3 places to join me this Advent!
I hope you’ll join me in one, two, or all three of these places so that we can watch Christ’s light arrive together.
I’m especially excited to offer a new way to interact with the Advent Daybook devotional posts.
I realize that some folks want the content of the Advent Daybook in concrete form. For the first time this year, I'm offering the Daybook content in a pdf download for anyone. This link will be available before Thanksgiving and I'm still determining the price, but am considering the $15 range. You might have friends who for one reason or another don't want to interact with Patreon but would appreciate the content from our Daybook posts. This option is for them!
I'd love your feedback on this. Send me an email, won't you?
Phew! I’ve been tap-tapping away over here getting words out into the world!
Here are three spaces you’ll find me now and in the coming weeks:
My latest review at Englewood Review of Books: Living in the Fishbowl: A Review of The Minister’s Wife: A Memoir of Faith, Doubt, Friendship, Loneliness, Forgiveness, and More by Karen Stiller
I want to buy a copy of this book for every single clergy spouse I know. I’d also love to sit down over a cup of tea for a long, hilarious chat with the author, Karen Stiller.
A week of Scriptural reflections for the 8@8 Daily Prayer community: Coming in mid-December!
Christie Purifoy’s community at Black Barn Online
I’m pinching myself for this opportunity and completely buried myself in preparation - in all the best ways. After watching a preview of my video presentation I told my husband: “I’m the kind of girl who gives up sleeping and eating for this kind of project, but not the kind who thinks about getting her hair done before speaking to a whole bunch of people through video screens.”
Oh, well. I did put on makeup at least, and the words I say are pretty good. I promise.
Advent at Home with the Black Barn Online!
Here is a link you can use if you are not already a member of the Black Barn Online:
This is an external link, which means it is a "bundle" of sorts. It will direct you to activate your free membership in the Black Barn while also purchasing access to Advent at Home for $19.99.
The Psalms Dare Us to Bring Our Whole Selves Before God - Praying the Psalter can give shape to the river of our emotions. by Tish Harrison Warren via CT
Excellent words, as always, for our friend, Tish Warren! This article is part of “Why Women Love the Bible,” CT’s special issue spotlighting women’s voices on the topic of Scripture engagement. You can download a free pdf of the issue or order print copies for yourself at MoreCT.com/special-issue.
Joy of Every Longing Heart: An Advent Meditation by Mischa Willett via North American Anglican
“I bring this up because recently there have been attempts to bridle that season of unbridled joy by pretending it is something it is not: a time of sorrow and repentance. We do not need another Lent on top of the one we have–40 days is long enough for that sort of business, thank you very much–my heart at any rate can’t take more of such poking and prodding.”
I totally understand how learning about the liturgical calendar can create a temptation to overcorrect in the “we don’t celebrate Christmas until December 25” department! I’m learning to lean more in the direction Micha Willett describes using the metaphors of a pregnancy and a star in this thought-provoking article.
Fellowshipping with Christians Who Voted for the Other Guy via The Church Politics Podcast
I’ve been taking it slow with all the post-election analysis, but I’m glad this is one of the places I chose to spend some time!
Summary: Peace and Life Referendums via Consistent Life Blog
Speaking of post-election here’s a resource for tracking ballot measures upholding from the 2020 election by state. There’s good news ranging from paid family and medical leave, minimum wage increases, removing racist symbols in various states (Hello to Mississippi’s new state flag!), and language about abortion rights. There’s bad news ranging from stem cell research, late-term abortions, and removing roots of racism in war memorials in other states.
Related (and cheeky): Doesn’t anyone vote against their self-interest anymore? via Simcha Fisher
Why we need gentleness by Gracy Olmstead via Granola
This is a gorgeous essay in Gracy Olmstead’s recent newsletter. It’s one I want to keep reading and savoring and seeking in my own life and for the sake of others.
“Enfeebled compromise, refusing to stand up for what one believes: these will not restore what’s broken in our culture. But none of these things are true gentleness. They are its perversions, attempts to kill gentleness by enfeebling it. Gentleness is, in contrast, the quiet valor of Saint Francis of Assisi, a disposition by which “forgiveness and justice are upheld,” and “gentleness turns a merciless war against injustice into sainthood.” And we need more of it—desperately.”
In Honor of Native American Heritage Month via Mockingbird History Lessons for Adults
“Being the only black child in my class in every single grade, I was always an Indian, though I secretly wanted to be a pilgrim. Every kid in the class wanted to be a pilgrim because, to our minds, this wasn’t about the feast.”
On cultural appropriation and decolonizing and honoring Native Peoples on Thanksgiving. If you don’t yet subscribe to Mockingbird History Lessons for Adults, what are you waiting for?
Related: Imagine inventing a sport and then being shunned by it. That’s the Haudenosaunee story via LA Times
Related: Native American Heritage Month at IVPress
Magic in the Dirt: What We Can Learn from the Harvest of 2020 by Julia Tershen, videos and images by Brian Dawson via NYTime Interactive
It’s the first harvest of an unparalleled year. Follow these 3 small farms during the harvest of 2020: Soul Fire Farm, Grafton, NY; Spirit Farm, Navajo Nation (New Mexico); Detroit Hives, Michigan.
Beautiful work presented in a stunning format. Enjoy!
Soup Time by Leslie Bustard via Cultivating Journal
If we can’t duplicate the homey scene of rooms full of friends balancing soup bowls on their knees, we can at least try the soup!
Reservoir Retreat: Retreat Into Your City - A Spirit-Guided Tour of Street Art in Greater Boston
My friend Vernee Wilkinson and her church curated this stunning visual retreat experience. I can’t stop looking at the pages of this book and scheming how I can get to Boston to take the tour myself.
- 3 books I’m currently reading -
Unsettling Truths: The Ongoing, Dehumanizing Legacy of the Doctrine of Discovery by Mark Charles and Soong-Chan Rah (challenging and essential)
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson (gorgeous)
The Country of the Pointed Firs and Other Stories by Sarah Orne Jewett (such lovely, restful reading!)
- 3 bonus features -
Some Thanksgiving-related bits and pieces we enjoy and think you might too.
My Thanksgiving playlist on Spotify: An Eclectic Thanksgiving Playlist
My favorite worship album for Thanksgiving: Together in the Harvest: The A Rocha Project Volume 2
Our favorite (ridiculous) Thanksgiving television special. (We own it on DVD which we will not loan to you.)
I’m so grateful for you all! You can see all Thanksgiving posts from previous years here.
