Weekend Top 10: Full of Christmas edition
A curated list of what I've been up to lately: places, people, books, podcasts, music, links & more for your weekend downtime.
First, a photo from this week!
Since we moved in the first week of December, we couldn’t bring ourselves to look through boxes for our full creche. Also Brian set up our larger nativity scene at the church this year. This is improvised essentials looked like Christmas morning. I love how the sheep are crowded around the baby.
Happy Eleventh Day of Christmas, friends!
Yesterday, I confessed to the Daybook patrons at the Sacramental Life community page that, when it comes to celebrating the full 12 days of Christmas, I feel like the little girls in this hilarious video. Sometimes I feel like the one next to the one with her arms folded. I feel like I'm still tapping along with joy when everyone else is starting diets and putting away their Christmas trees. Other times I feel exactly like the pouting prima donna instead and I just want to stop all the festivities and get on with life.
Giving ourselves to the act of celebration as a spiritual discipline sometimes feels exactly like that - a discipline. I'd have felt better about myself on Thursday if I'd insisted on productivity instead of a mid-afternoon nap on the couch. I could get a jump start on the year ahead, try to beat it into submission before it gets the best of me.
Of course, the time will come to tidy up the ornaments and dried tree needles. It will definitely be time soon, and very soon, to stop eating chocolate and cheese with almost every meal. But that day is not yet today. Or tomorrow. Or even the next day. (Yes, we end the twelve days of Christmas with yet another day of celebration, the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6!)
If you've joined me for previous Christmas Daybook posts, you've heard me quote my wise mom with what's become our family motto for most celebrations: "While we feast, we savor."
So, savor the excess, friends. Unless Jesus comes in the clouds in the next couple of days, we'll move into Ordinary Time again. Soon after that, the days for Lenten fasting will come. Enjoy the present moment. And if you can't enjoy it, at least try not to get in the way of the people around you who are keeping Christmas well.
Here’s what I published this week!
On the blog:
Let’s Connect in 2020: I shared my hopes to connect more intentionally with a lot more of you this year (Yes, I mean YOU, the one reading this post!)
On Patreon:
Would you like to know more about cultivating a Rule of Life?: Beside the Christmastide Daybook posts, I made an exciting announcement about a special three-part live stream I’m offering Daybook patrons in January! Starting with a brief introduction this coming Tuesday (January 7), I'll be sharing live some brief history and a lot of personal insight to help answer the following questions:
What is a Rule of Life?
How does a Rule of Life work?
Do I need a Rule of Life?
What are some cautions in cultivating a Rule of Life?
How does a Rule of Life change as the seasons of my life change?
How does a Rule of Life work in community or family?
If you’d like to join us, all you need to do is head to my Patreon page and subscribe as a Daybook patron (that’s the $5 a month level). Join before Tuesday to join in the live conversation or just anytime in January to be able to view the recorded sessions at your convenience.
I’m so excited to encourage many of you seeking to live within a spacious, but intentional life of work, rest, and worship.
Just quick links this week because we’ve got a Twelfth Night party at church and I’ve got some fun things to do to prepare!
Top 10
1. Art & Faith
Always treasures to find at Victoria Emily Jones’ Art & Theology blog: “The Little Drummer Boy”: Four Versions (Nigeria, India, Cuba, Norway)
2. In Season
Tsh at the Art of Simple passed this along and it looks like great inspiration to include in our Cultivating a Rule of Life conversations this month: The Analog January Challenge
3. Justice, Reconciliation, & Social Critique
The new movie about Harriet Tubman is on my to-see list, and I appreciated this deeper dive into her faith: Faith made Harriet Tubman fearless as she rescued slaves
4. Listening & Watching
This song! Justice Will Sprout From The Ground
5. People & Place
Adding to my bucket list of places to visit in our city: https://www.instagram.com/p/B6IjTMqHLE6/
6. Reading & Writing
I finally read my friend Tish Warren’s popular book over the summer, and while I don’t feel as strongly as Adam Shields about some of the downsides of the book I found his perspective important to consider: Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren
7. Spiritual Direction & Disciplines
Oh my goodness, Jen Willhoite at Cobbleworks has created yet another lovely tool for spiritual examination and I’m so using this next Christmastide: Holy Nights Map & Examen
8. Wholeness & Healing
A stunning essay about working through grief in the latest issue of the Cultivating Journal: A Shot in the Dark by Matthew Cyr
9. Work & Callings
Important insight from America Magazine: How economic uncertainty is taking a spiritual toll on today’s young adults
10. Worship, Liturgy, & Church
I honestly don’t know much about Eastern Orthodox liturgy, but I always deeply appreciate Fr. Stephen Freeman’s theological insights. This caution about how we use the word “mystery” feels important right now: Entering the Mystery of Christmas