Christmas Mystery, and Christmas Novena - Day Eight

Advent is over and Christmas is upon us. Today I will tie together some loose ends (finish two gifts, final wrapping, distribute goodies), and settle into the grace and mystery of Christmas.

What is the grace of Christmas? It's an experiential thing. We don't need faith that the sun will rise because we have experienced it. Even in the darkest of times, this season of Light and Love will deliver its grace.

As Santa for a toddler, who may or may not remember this Christmas next year, I am totally into the experiential part: We light the advent candles; we make gingerbread; we play with the manger scene - "This is Joseph, the daddy. This is Mary, the mommy. This is the donkey..." He doesn't need to understand anything, but just be in the grace.

From A Druid Way: "One link between the objective and the subjective is awen, inspiration, the flow of spirit, which lets us evoke in others an echo of our original experience. Let the echo be strong enough, let our understanding of this thing called being human, and our skill in working with it, run equal to the task, and music, image, voice, story, object of craft can all serve to unite us in the experience of mystery. An echo from outside awakens a resonance within us."

Agenda today:

1. Prayer of Mystery

2. Prayer journal queries

3. Read a novena

4. Make snowflakes

1. Prayer of Mystery

May the Light that shimmers in all Creation
surprise you each day with glittering moments,
when you can see again how
Light lives in everything,
how it partners
with dark soil to bring forth
daffodils and lavender,
a hundred kinds of squash,
apples and berries, sweetened by the sun.

How the dough you knead in your hands
is an alchemy of touch and time,
how everything is
a call to communion –
the wafer of moon,
a chalice of stars.
Let the Mystery of it all
dance in your heart,
always widening your horizons,
inhabiting new landscapes.

May you know each moment as sacred
and everything around you a call
to remember this one true thing.

~paraphrased from a blessing by Christine Valters Paintner 

2. Prayer journal queries:

This week of advent my focus is the Guiding Light of God. My idea of God is Creation, Light, Love, and Mystery - the wordless and unknowable, that I don't need to understand because I experience it.

I keep a prayer journal, which is a way to speak to my Inner Guide. Today I will ask and answer these queries:

What is the mystery inside me, waiting to sprout?

What is my inspiration? 

What music, image, voice, story, or object of craft will I use to share my experience of grace?

3. Read a novena:
I've been reading this Creation Novena from the Indian Catholic Matters site:

Day 8: A Prayer for Vulnerable People

Creator God, we give thanks for means to care for the poor. We give thanks for their resilience, for their strength, and for their example. We give thanks for the opportunity to know them, to serve them, and to love them.

As climate change troubles those who live and work so closely with nature, help us grow in solidarity. Help us follow the words of Proverbs, to “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.”

Help us speak truth in the presence of corruption, selfishness, and short-sightedness. Help us speak prophetically to our brothers and sisters, and to reflect on Your truths in our own lives, that we may change our habits to truly care for all Your beloved children.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen.

4. Make snowflakes: 

Even toddlers can make snowflakes, though they will look like they were made by a toddler! I used Martha Stewart's folding guide and pre-folded a bunch of papers, then my Toddler had his first experience with cutting!