'I thirst' by Amy Barker Willers [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

I want some satiating, magical potion to restore those years to me.

Jesus’s last words “I thirst” remind me that He - the most satiating, life-giving, Living Water - also thirsted. What did he thirst for, hanging there on the cross? In the midst of excruciating pain, I find it hard to believe those words were merely asking for a drink. Maybe He spoke those words for me so that I would remember that my Savior also felt pain and grief. And that He knows my thirst and weeps with me in the midst of mine.

Lament Stories, LentTamara Hill MurphyApril 14, 2022holy week, I thirst, Holy Week Vigil 2022

'My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' pt. 2 by April Swiger [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

As our family learned how to navigate grief, bellies around us continued to swell with life, and children were adopted seemingly with ease. I started to become acutely aware of the obsession in Christian culture with having lots of children (more equals blessed). I began to reckon with the fact that we had one child, and we may only ever have one child. Did that mean God wasn't pleased with us? Was there some sin we weren't aware of that He was punishing us for?

'Woman, behold thy son! Son, behold thy mother!' by Michelle Van Loon [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

But I’ve also seen what it looks like when true community is forged from shared surrender to God, and it has ruined me for ersatz versions. Compelled by the self-giving love of Jesus, it always looks just like one disciple opening the door to another to welcome them in fully and completely as family – because in him, that is what we are meant to be for one another.

'Today you will be with me in paradise' by Arthur Going [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

Jesus gave us a litany of last words, known as the Seven Last Words of Christ. The deathbed words of the Suffering Servant provide a framework for Holy Week. Each day between now and Resurrection Sunday, seven friends will share their own stories to help us retrieve lament and to keep vigil with Jesus. Their stories have helped form my understanding of cruciform suffering and I believe they could also encourage you too.

Each short story will be paired with an image, a Scripture passage, and a prayer. This year I’ve curated a series of contemporary icons from Ukrainian iconographers. As we hold space for each other’s stories, we take shelter under the outstretched arms of Christ for every story of suffering around the world. In order to lean toward the suffering in Ukraine, one of our storytellers is giving us the opportunity to send help to two organizations on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring friendly countries, and to receive a special thank you gift from Michelle Van Loon in return.

Would you read our friend Art's story with an open heart for any words Christ might be speaking to you?

'Father, forgive them' by Tamara Hill Murphy [Holy Week Vigil 2022]

Dear friend,

This post kicks off a week of guest posts to help us keep vigil with Jesus, each other, and our own hearts through Holy Week.

Jesus gave us a litany of last words, known as the Seven Last Words of Christ. The deathbed words of the Suffering Servant provide a framework for Holy Week. Each day between now and Resurrection Sunday, seven friends will share their own stories to help us retrieve lament and to keep vigil with Jesus. Their stories have helped form my understanding of cruciform suffering and I believe they could also encourage you too.

Each short story will be paired with an image, a Scripture passage, and a prayer. This year I’ve curated a series of contemporary icons from Ukrainian iconographers. As we hold space for each other’s stories, we take shelter under the outstretched arms of Christ for every story of suffering around the world. In order to lean toward the suffering in Ukraine, one of our storytellers is giving us the opportunity to send help to two organizations on the ground in Ukraine and neighboring friendly countries, and to receive a special thank you gift from Michelle Van Loon in return.

Thank you for sitting with me in my own story today. May you listen with an open prayerful heart and know the shelter of Christ for all that you lament this week.

Peace,

Tamara

p.s. Would you invite a friend to join us to read the stories with us?

A Gift for You This Holy Week

LentTamara Hill MurphyApril 8, 2022holy week, Retrieve Lament 2022, lament

Sign Up (for free!) to Keep Vigil with Jesus and 7 Storytellers For Holy Week

April brings the tenth annual blog series for Holy Week and a Zoom conversation to meet this year’s guest storytellers and we’d love for you to join us. Sign up inside to receive the Zoom link for April 7 and one story each day of Holy Week to your email inbox.

March 3 for 3 [2022]: the Lent-y edition

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 - all arranged in lists of threes.

3 for 3, LentTamara Hill MurphyApril 1, 2022links, Instagram, holy week

Encouragement for you this Ash Wednesday

Welcome to a Lent daybook for these 40+ days of prayerful repentance.

Is this your first time to practice Lent? Here's a simple introduction.

Look: A house sits covered by a deep blanket of ash from a volcano erupting on La Palma, in Spain's Canary Islands, on October 30. After 85 days and eight hours of destruction, the Cumbre Vieja volcano in Spain's Canary Islands finally finished erupting on December 13, 2021. The volcanic eruption - sending lava into neighborhoods and raining ash downwind - was the island of La Palma's longest active eruption on record, according to Canary Island government officials. Emilio Morenatti / AP - Source

Listen: From the Dust, Paul Zach - Lyrics | Spotify | YouTube

Read: Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 103; 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:10; Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Pray: Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Ash Wednesday

Do: Attend an Ash Wednesday service

LentTamara Hill MurphyMarch 2, 2022Lent Daybook 2022

Lent & Easter Daybook - 48 meditations to prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for resurrection

Eastertide, LentTamara Hill MurphyFebruary 18, 2022Lent Daybook 2022, shop

January 3 for 3: short note, big updates edition

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 - all arranged in lists of threes.

Hi, I’m Tamara Murphy and this is my newsletter. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my work, please consider a paid subscription: $5/month for weekly devotional posts throughout the year. Thank you! Seriously, thank you. Support from readers helps me offer spiritual, relational, and creative direction beyond the scope of this website.

xoxo, Tamara

3 for 3Tamara Hill MurphyJanuary 29, 2022

What I Read July - December [From the Book Pile 2021]

The second half of 2021 was full of almost everything except for reading! Good things, hard things, and work-related things filled up my days and, while I still found some time to read good, true, and beautiful things my TBR pile didn’t dwindle quite as much as I’d expected. Here’s what I did manage to complete and (for the most part) enjoy the second half of the year.

Three questions as you browse this post:

Which titles grab your attention?
What've YOU been reading lately?
Any suggestions you want to send my way?

Drop me a comment and let me know!

IMPORTANT :: Five-Minute Friday returns

This year, once again, I hoped for a day or even a few hours of time that felt clear and focused to gather what I’ve learned in the past twelve months and what I desire for the next twelve. It never came. On Thursday (yesterday) I facilitated a two-hour virtual retreat for A Sacramental Life Community and still, the clarity didn’t really arrive.

What did happen, instead, was a sense of wellbeing. We continue to move collectively through the unknown days and months of this health crisis, trying to pace ourselves to the herky-jerky stop and start rhythms of a global pandemic. As much as I’d like a period to come at the end of the sentence of this frustrating, agonizing, bewildering era of human history with the turn of a calendar page, that’s not the reality. During our retreat, I was reminded of what one of my spiritual directees told me once “God is in the reality.”

Want to know where God is at work? Look to the reality of your life.

Five-Minute StoriesTamara Hill MurphyJanuary 7, 2022

December 3 for 3: our hearts grew three sizes edition

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 - all arranged in lists of threes.

Hi, I’m Tamara Murphy and this is my newsletter. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my work, please consider a paid subscription: $5/month for weekly devotional posts throughout the year or $3/month for personal storytelling posts 1-2 times a month. You can also go way above and beyond by becoming A Sacramental Life Community member at $17/month. Thank you! Seriously, thank you. Support from readers helps me offer spiritual, relational, and creative direction to beyond the scope of this website.

xoxo, Tamara

3 for 3Tamara Hill MurphyDecember 18, 2021links, Church of the Apostles

7 Things I Learned This Autumn

Welcome, Winter! I share a list of things I learned once a quarter. As we welcome winter I’m also reflecting on what I learned this fall.

If you're new to me or my public blog space, welcome!

I’m joining Emily Freeman, a writer and podcaster I admire, in her invitation to reflect on the past quarter with a What We Learned reflection. As Emily says, I’m sharing “in-process considerations, not necessarily fully worked out narratives.”

Here are 7 things I’m learning in varying degrees of gravitas and in no particular order.

Best of... lists, Things I LearnedTamara Hill MurphyDecember 13, 2021family, Neighborhood, Friendship, autumn, Grandparenting

Mary, the serpent crusher

“Advent is the best liturgical season to amplify women’s voices,” I boldly assert. I think I wanted to offer an invitation to the men in the room to settle into the joy and beauty a woman’s God-reflecting perspective offers rather than the tropes that disguise women as caricatures of femininity only.

And that is when I said if I ever converted it would be for Mary. She astounds me. In the past few Advents, I’ve gravitated to the imagery of her strength on display more prominently than her culturally-praised serenity. Last year I meditated “Let it be to me”. This year I’m meditating “He lifts up the lowly.”

More than her submission and virginity, the icons capturing my imagination highlight the prophecies about her crushing the serpent’s head under her heel.

Advent StoriesTamara Hill MurphyDecember 10, 2021advent

November 3 for 3: From feasting to simplicity

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 - all arranged in lists of threes.

Hi, I’m Tamara Murphy and this is my newsletter. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my work, please consider a paid subscription: $5/month for weekly devotional posts throughout the year or $3/month for personal storytelling posts 1-2 times a month. You can also go way above and beyond by becoming A Sacramental Life Community member at $17/month. Thank you! Seriously, thank you. Support from readers helps me offer spiritual, relational, and creative direction to beyond the scope of this website.

xoxo, Tamara

3 for 3Tamara Hill MurphyNovember 25, 2021links, Church of the Apostles

Advent & Christmas Daybook 2022 - 29 meditations to prepare our hearts, minds, and bodies for Christ's arrival

Tamara Hill MurphyNovember 16, 2021

October 3 for 3: the bounty of good work and community edition

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 - all arranged in lists of threes.

Hi, I’m Tamara Murphy and this is my newsletter. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my work, please consider a paid subscription: $5/month for weekly devotional posts throughout the year or $3/month for personal storytelling posts 1-2 times a month. You can also go way above and beyond by becoming A Sacramental Life Community member at $17/month. Thank you! Seriously, thank you. Support from readers helps me offer spiritual, relational, and creative direction to beyond the scope of this website.

xoxo, Tamara

Go with your love to the fields: Practice Resurrection Stories

On joining Jesus to intercede for my pastor, who also happens to be my husband

The latest installment in my series using the Mad Farmer’s words to inspire my own storytelling. I write in hope that something I share will encourage you to think differently about your own life and to respond to that new way of thinking with joy and courage and new ways of becoming more like Jesus and more like the self God’s always imagined for you.

In case you’ve lost track, here’s a description of my current Stories series.

Today’s excerpt from "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" by Wendell Berry:

Go with your love to the fields.

Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head

in her lap. Swear allegiance

to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos

can predict the motions of your mind,

lose it. Leave it as a sign

to mark the false trail, the way

you didn’t go.

Resurrection StoriesTamara Hill MurphyOctober 22, 2021Brian, finding Tamara, Practice Resurrection 2021

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